Even in the highly partisan U.S. Senate, the invasion of illegal aliens and “migrants” seeking asylum on our southern border has exceeded anyone’s expectations, flooding border states, like Arizona, causing even their pro-immigration politicians to say, time out!
As a result, a bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill to block President Joe Biden from lifting another Trump-Era immigration policy in May.
The group includes Senators James Lankford (R-OK), lead Republican on the Border Management Subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Chair of the Border Management Subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and members of the Governmental Affairs Committee; John Cornyn (R-TX), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), John Thune (R-SD), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jon Tester (D-MT), Rob Portman (R-OH), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Thom Tillis (R-NC).
They introduced the Public Health and Border Security Act to require all COVID-19-related national states of emergency to be lifted before Title 42 is officially terminated. Their goal is to pressure President Joe Biden into reversing his administration’s decision to scrap this additional immigration policy which has allowed the U.S. to turn away migrants at its southern border.
Lawmakers say that ending the policy, as the Biden administration plans to do in late May, will leave border communities unprotected and will further drain the resources of their states, as well as result in a massive influx of migrants the U.S. government is obviously not prepared to manage.
“Arizona communities bear the brunt of the federal government’s failure at our border, so we’re stepping in and protecting border communities by ensuring the Administration works hand-in-hand with local leaders, law enforcement, and non-profits to put a comprehensive, workable plan in place before lifting Title 42,” Sinema said in a statement.
Sen. Sinema also told Axios she met with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last week and again on Wednesday morning.
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“It is evident that the current preparations and plans for the end of Title 42 aren’t adequate,” she said.
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“It seems highly unlikely it will be adequate by May 23, because of poor logistics,” Sinema said.
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A White House official told Axios: “On the president’s first day in office, he sent an immigration bill to Congress that invests in smart solutions, effectively manages the border and addresses the root causes of migration. Those that are concerned about [the U.S.] immigration system that [are] holding up COVID funding should pass it.”
Lankford statement includes:
“The Biden Administration is declaring the pandemic over on our southern border but still active on our healthcare workers, military, and travelers. Department of Homeland Security intel projections show that potentially a million people will illegally cross the moment Title 42 is lifted. But instead of a workable replacement plan, the only plan the Biden Administration seems to have is moving people faster into the interior of the country.”
“They cannot have it both ways. If they think it’s safe enough to lift Title 42 at the border, then it must be safe enough to lift the COVID-19 state of emergency on the whole country,” he added. “But when we drop Title 42 at the border, DHS must also implement a workable solution to expel migrants.”
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it would be scrapping the Title 42 policy (continued)
Featured photo by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
This post originally appeared on The Blue State Conservative.
