President Joe Biden blamed the Republican Party during a Thursday White House speech for the southern border invasion.
Biden’s statement that Republicans are to blame for the border crisis was followed by a claim that partisan divisiveness has prevented immigration solutions. Under Democrat rule, 2.2 million illegal migrants have overrun the border in fiscal year 2022, a 33 percent increase from 2021.
“I sent congress a comprehensive piece of legislation that would completely overhaul what has been a broken immigration system for a long time,” Biden said.
Biden alleged preventing illegal immigration is a priority but Republicans have opposed his plan.
“Cracking down on illegal immigration, strengthening legal immigration and protecting dreamers, those with temporary protective status, like farm workers, are part of the fabric of our nation,” Biden continued. “But congressional republicans have refused to consider my plan and they rejected my retest for an additional $3.5 billion to secure the border and funds for 2,000 new asylum personnel.”
Joe Biden claims 20,000 lbs of fentanyl is “enough to kill as many as 1,000 people in this country.”
20,000 lbs of fentanyl would kill 4.5 billion people. pic.twitter.com/HAYvTfR1XX
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 5, 2023
After blaming the GOP, Biden said the politics of divisiveness have prevented solutions from resolving the invasion.
“Our politics have been so divisive. I know it’s getting much better, but it’s been so darned divisive [that] it clouds the picture,” Biden said. “Republicans haven’t been serious about it at all [about a solution]. Come on. They haven’t been serious at all all.”
“It is clear that immigration is a political issue and extreme republicans will always run on, but now they have a choice. They can keep using immigration to score political points or they can help solve the problem. They can help solve the problem and come together to fix the broken system,” Biden said.
Well that’s clever. Biden says he’s announcing new measures to deport those without “a legal right to stay.” But he’s just said that anyone who claims asylum has a right to stay.
In other words, he’s telling potential border crossers that claiming asylum is their golden ticket. pic.twitter.com/Mq22cpUK7s
— Heritage Foundation (@Heritage) January 5, 2023
At the close of his speech, Biden thanked Harris for her work on preventing illegal immigration.
“Vice President Harris leads this effort to make things better for the countries which they are leaving,” he said. “And thanks to her leadership, she has been able to generate more than $3.2 billion from the private sector to create jobs and opportunities in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.”
Biden announced he will travel to Mexico on Sunday to inspect the southern border and speak with Mexican authorities about global warming and illegal immigration, among other issues.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
