But has anyone thought of a simpler explanation: Republicans have no idea how the immigration system works?
Republican lawmakers have been withholding aid to Ukraine and Israel for months while pushing for concessions on unrelated immigration measures.But after Democrats finally shouted “Uncle,” House Republicans said: Oh, I’m just kidding. After all, they don’t want this deal!
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and others are now insisting that Biden doesn’t need any new border enforcement legislation. Instead, they argue that Biden can capitalize on his remarks. existing It gave him the authority to reduce immigration by reinstating all executive actions President Trump had put in place.
“if [Biden] I want our conference to see him as an honest negotiator, who can start with the stroke of a pen,” Johnson said.
There are several problems with this claim. First, Mr. Biden already Trump has initiated more than 500 immigration-related executive actions, more than President Trump announced in four years, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Biden has likely exhausted the scope of his presidential powers, and so far his measures have failed to stem the tide of border crossings.
Second, if Biden has not reinstated certain policies of President Trump, as Republicans want him to do, it is mainly because: So many Trump policies turned out to be illegal.
Of the 35 major Trump-era immigration cases that faced legal challenges, 33 (94%) failed to survive the lawsuits. That is, either the court has ruled against the relevant authority, or the authority has withdrawn the case following a lawsuit. These numbers are from the New York University Institute for Policy Integrity’s Regulatory Issues Database.
President Trump’s immigration cases fail 90 percent of the time, even when Republican-appointed judges preside over such cases.
To be fair, the particular Trump-era program that Johnson wants to revive is known informally as “Remain in Mexico” and is the subject of ongoing litigation in the courts. It has become. However, the final court decision on this policy may not be all that important.
why?It is unclear whether this program will continue in the future. effectively suppressed illegal border crossings (albeit exposing desperate migrants to rape, kidnapping, torture, and other dangers); More importantly, the Mexican government has said it will not cooperate if the U.S. restarts the program, regardless of what U.S. courts decide.
Johnson also told Biden:Update border wall construction” When it comes to this policy, Biden’s obstacle isn’t exactly executive power. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, says there isn’t enough funding.
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that House Republicans will provide funding.
How do we know? That’s because the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a different (tougher) immigration bill last year, known as HR2. Although it was essentially a messaging bill, Prime Minister Johnson recently said it was the only immigration-related bill the chamber would consider. The bill would require Biden to resume wall construction, as set out in the 2019 spending bill, but would not provide the new funding needed to build the wall, Reichlin-Melnick said. .
Similarly, Johnson called on Biden to end the “catch-and-release” practice of detaining people awaiting asylum claims to be heard in court. But under current law, there isn’t enough funding to provide that number of detention beds. Not surprisingly, HR 2 provides no new funding for this purpose.
In other words, unless Congress passes bipartisan legislation that House Republicans refuse to consider, the policies Biden claims he can adopt “with the stroke of a pen” are beyond his pen’s reach. is.
Perhaps Mr. Johnson and his Republican colleagues want Mr. Biden to appear reckless, arguing that he can get things done without help from lawmakers. Perhaps they have become so used to Trump’s lawlessness that they think Biden should sometimes cross the line.
But again, there’s a pretty strong case that the problem here is incompetence.
After all, House Republicans this week announced articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his alleged failures on immigration. Unfortunately, these articles have the following complaints: Measures fully taken different Government agency — State Department — Mr. Mayorkas is not in control.
Oops. But who can tell these ministers apart?
In defense of Republicans, our immigration system is a mess. Many people do not understand. Still, one might hope that the politicians they paid to understand these things, and who have made immigration a centerpiece of their 2024 campaigns, would try a little harder.