08.07.22

Democrats Vote Again To Allow Chaos On The Southern Border To Continue

Democrats Voted Against Sen. Lankford’s Amendment To Transfer Just Some Of The Money From Their Multi-Billion Spending Spree To Title 42 Authority That Allows People Crossing The Border Illegally To Be Quickly Turned Away

 

All 50 Senate Democrats voted against Sen. James Lankford’s (R-OK) amendment to shift money to maintain Title 42 authority in order to address the crisis on the southern U.S. border. (S. Amdt. 5384, H.R. 5376, Roll Call Vote #294: Amendment Rejected 50-50: D 0-48; R 50-0; I 0-2, 8/07/2022)

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): “Title 42 authority is the last line of defense that our Border Patrol agents have to protect our border during this ongoing health emergency. The Biden Administration wants to extend the public health emergency in the country, but ignore the health emergency at our border. We have a record number of people crossing our border illegally—we need more enforcement, not less. The American people deserve transparency and accountability from the Administration and Title 42 authority must be kept in place until there is a viable plan to stop people from entering our country illegally particularly during a public health emergency.” (Sen. Lankford, Press Release, 8/06/2022)

 

FLASHBACK: In 2020 Most Senate Democrats Announced That They Opposed The Use Of Title 42 And Called For Its ‘Immediate Rescission’ And Last Year All 50 Voted Against An Amendment That Would Have Ensured Title 42 Authority Could Continue

All 50 Senate Democrats voted against an amendment offered by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) that would have ensured the Department of Homeland Security would continue to have the authority under Title 42 to deport people entering the country illegally. (S.Amdt.3781, S.Con.Res.14, Roll Call Vote #344: Rejected 49-50: D 0-48; R 49-0; I 0-2, 8/11/2021)

SENS. CHRIS COONS (D-DE), CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO (D-NV), MICHAEL BENNET (D-CO) WITH 31 OTHER SENATE DEMOCRATS: “We oppose your efforts to dismantle the U.S. asylum system and call for immediate rescission of the following policies: … CDC asylum ban: In March 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an order that permits DHS to summarily expel asylum-seekers, upending decades of congressionally mandated procedures and further endangering populations at risk of harm. The CDC order appears designed to further an ongoing agenda to exclude asylum seekers, in violation of Congress’ plain word and intent. The UN Refugee Agency has stated clearly, in the context of COVID-19: ‘Denial of access to territory without safeguards to protect against refoulement cannot be justified on the grounds of any health risk.’ Leading epidemiologists and public health experts have condemned the new policy, stating that it ‘is based on specious justifications and fails to protect public health.’ Human rights and medical groups have developed measures for processing migrants at the border that both protect public health and preserve humanitarian protection. Since March 20, more than 20,000 people, including more than 900 children, have been expelled under the CDC order. Only two people have been permitted to stay in the U.S. to pursue asylum claims.” (34 Democratic Senators, Letter to the Trump Administration, 6/19/2020)

 

June Was The Fourth Month In A Row Of More Than 200,000 Southern Border Encounters And Follows ‘An All-Time Monthly High’ In May

“The U.S. Customs and Border Protection released its June 2022 Monthly Operational Report showing record levels of border crossings are continuing, including a record-setting number of terrorist sightings and an increased number of unaccompanied children and illegal drugs found at the U.S.-Mexico border. In the report, the CBP said there were more than 207,416 encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border for the month of June. While the overall number of border interactions is down from May’s all-time high of 239,000, it is the fourth month in a row of more than 200,000 encounters.” (“Border Crisis: CBP's June Immigration Report Reveals More Than 200,000 Encounters, Record Terrorist Sightings,” Fox News, 7/16/2022)

“Border Patrol agents along the southern border recorded in May an all-time monthly high in apprehensions, processing migrants who entered the U.S. unlawfully over 222,000 times as part of a historic migration event, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statistics released Wednesday show. May’s tally of migrant arrests surpassed the previous monthly record U.S. Border Patrol set in March 2000, when the agency recorded just over 220,000 apprehensions, according to historical government data for the past two decades…. The statistics published Wednesday show the unprecedented levels of migrant arrivals recorded along the U.S.-Mexico border over the past year under President Biden have only continued to intensify, posing major humanitarian, logistical and political challenges for his administration.” (“U.S. Border Patrol Migrant Apprehensions Reached Record Levels In May,” CBS News, 6/15/2022)

 

The Biden Administration Has Completely Failed At Dissuading Even More People From Attempting To Cross The U.S. Border

“Thousands of migrants set off from southern Mexico last week in one of the largest caravans seeking to reach the United States in recent years. The mass movement coincided with a recent meeting in Los Angeles, of leaders from the Western Hemisphere, where migration was a key focus. Though migrant caravans have become a common phenomenon … the latest march by some 6,000 people walking along Mexican highways has drawn significant international attention.” (“A Caravan of Migrants Set Off Toward U.S. During Americas Summit,” The New York Times, 6/11/2022)

“Biden has tasked Vice President Harris with leading the administration’s Root Causes Strategy, with billions of dollars in new investments for Central America’s Northern Triangle region of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The leaders of those countries skipped the Los Angeles summit, however …” (“U.S. Border Arrests Rose To Record High In May, Data Shows,” The Washington Post, 6/16/2022)

Cities On Mexico’s Northern And Southern Borders Have Become Waiting Rooms For Migrants Attempting To Cross The U.S. Border

“Just 15 minutes from El Paso, Texas, the largest immigrant shelter in this city of 1.5 million has become a way station for throngs of would-be border crossers … ‘Our city has become a waiting room,’ Yvonne Lopez De Lara, the human rights coordinator at Casa del Migrante, told The Post on Thursday. The shelter is currently jammed to its capacity of 400 people…. Casa del Migrante used to be one of only two shelters in Juarez, but that number has grown to nearly 40 in recent years as more and more immigrants have arrived. City officials estimate there are between 10,000 and 15,000 migrants currently in Juarez — some in shelters and some on the streets.” (“Mexican Border City Becomes ‘Waiting Room’ For US-Bound Immigrants,” New York Post, 5/19/2022)

“Once in Mexico, a migrant is usually required to stay in the southern city of Tapachula until the Mexican authorities grant a humanitarian visa to travel farther, a process that can take months. ‘Tapachula has become a giant migrant jail,’ said Luis García Villagrán, a spokesman for the caravan…. Rather than languish in Tapachula, some migrants either pay human traffickers, many of whom have links to organized crime, or bribe immigration officials to speed up the process, Mr. García said in a phone interview. Still others try to bypass the Mexican visa process and join the groups heading north, he said, believing that their large numbers will make it more difficult for the Mexican authorities to halt their progress. A spokeswoman for Mexico’s National Institute for Migration said efforts were being made to provide migrants with legal paperwork in Tapachula.” (“A Caravan of Migrants Set Off Toward U.S. During Americas Summit,” The New York Times, 6/11/2022)

  • “Mexico’s migration agency has issued nearly 7,000 temporary documents and transit visas over the last few days to members of a migrant caravan … Hundreds of people were heading north in buses while others were spread out over various towns north of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, resting or waiting to receive money from relatives to continue their trip to the United States…. [T]he bus terminal in the southern Mexican town of Huixtla was filled with migrants looking for tickets north.” (“Mexico Issues 7,000 Temporary Documents To Migrants In South,” The Associated Press, 6/11/2022)

 

Last Year, President Biden Actually Claimed ‘We’ve Now Gotten Control’ Of The Border Crisis, But Secretary Of State Blinken Admitted In June That The Border Problems Are ‘Beyond Anything That Anyone Has Seen Before’

Biden In 2021: ‘[L]ook, It’s Way Down Now. We’ve Now Gotten Control’

NBC’s CRAIG MELVIN: “But in April alone, Mr. President, 170,000 people, migrants apprehended at the border to 20 year record. There are 22,000 unaccompanied children in our country right now. That’s a record. That sounds to most folks like a crisis.”
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: “Well, look, it’s way down now. We’ve now gotten control.” (NBC’s “Today,” 4/30/2021)

Blinken In June: ‘We’re Dealing With A Challenge That, For A Whole Variety Of Reasons, Is Beyond Anything That Anyone Has Seen Before’

“US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN that the immigration challenges facing the Biden administration along the southern border are ‘beyond anything that anyone has seen before’ …” (“Blinken Says Immigration Challenges Facing US At The Southern Border Are ‘Beyond Anything That Anyone Has Seen Before,’ CNN, 6/08/2022)

“‘We’re dealing with a challenge that, for a whole variety of reasons, is beyond anything that anyone has seen before, which is exactly why the approach that we’re taking, including here at the summit, is so important,’ Blinken told CNN en Español’s Juan Carlos López during an interview conducted on Tuesday at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.” (“Blinken Says Immigration Challenges Facing US At The Southern Border Are ‘Beyond Anything That Anyone Has Seen Before,’ CNN, 6/08/2022)

 

Even Bloomberg News’ Editorial Board Criticized President Biden’s ‘Largely Incoherent’ Immigration Policy ‘Now Verging On A Crisis’ While Urging The Remain In Mexico Policy To Stay In Place

BLOOMBERG NEWS EDITORIAL BOARD: “From Day One, President Joe Biden’s immigration policy has been largely incoherent. It’s now verging on a crisis. In June, authorities recorded 191,898 apprehensions at the border, following more than 222,000 the previous month. Would-be migrants have been processed after crossing the southwestern border more than 1.7 million times so far this year, already exceeding last year’s record-setting tally. Distinctive catastrophes — such as the deaths of 53 migrants in an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio in June — have only punctuated these grim figures.” (Editorial, “Biden’s Border Fiasco Is Expanding,” Bloomberg News, 8/03/2022)

  • “[President Biden] has proposed a funding cut for border apprehensions and removals. He published an ill-conceived reform structure that seemed to act as an invitation for further migration without laying the necessary groundwork. Vice President Kamala Harris — deputized by Biden to head up a response to the crisis — has spent just three days in Latin America over 16 months. Such inattention has allowed obvious problems at the border to fester, while giving unauthorized migrants the false hope that they’ll be allowed entry to the US.” (Editorial, “Biden’s Border Fiasco Is Expanding,” Bloomberg News, 8/03/2022)
  • “The bottom line is that all asylum seekers have a right to have their claims heard in court, yet the US must ensure the system doesn’t get completely overwhelmed. Of the imperfect options available, Remain in Mexico (formally, the Migrant Protection Protocols) makes the most sense. The Biden administration has been begrudgingly working with the Mexican government to improve this program, including by expanding the hiring of immigration judges to speed case reviews and providing migrants with more lawyers. It should also work to ensure they have safe housing and job opportunities and to reduce the distances they have to travel for court appearances. With such improvements in place, and buy-in from Mexico, the policy should help restore order to the asylum process while addressing humanitarian concerns.” (Editorial, “Biden’s Border Fiasco Is Expanding,” Bloomberg News, 8/03/2022)

 

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SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Related Issues: Democrats' Reckless Taxing And Spending Spree, Immigration, Homeland Security, Senate Democrats