Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson directly confronted President Joe Biden about the border crisis, urging him to take action and enforce existing laws.
Johnson presented Biden with documented instances of actions by his administration that led to the crisis and emphasized that no new laws are needed to solve the problem.
He also highlighted the need to reform asylum and the broken parole process, restore the “Remain in Mexico” policy, and end catch-and-release.
“No one is strong-arming me. I told the president — I looked right across the table from him in the Cabinet officials’ room and I said, ‘Mr. President, you have the authority right now to end this catastrophe. It’s your actions that created it,’” Johnson said.
“I’ve cited to him — read him the legal authority on the phone on Thursday of last week that he could take,” Johnson noted.
“Well, Hallelujah. Mr. President — President Biden, do your job. Fix the catastrophe that you’ve created,” he said. “It’s an unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe. A national security catastrophe.”
The details of a bill being prepared by Sen. James Lankford are yet to be seen, and Johnson expressed hope for meaningful legislation in the Senate.
“I’m hopeful that they’ll [in the Senate] come up with something meaningful,” Johnson said.
The speaker noted the House has passed legislation — House Bill 2 — introduced by Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida last year.
“But what I have said from the very beginning is that we have to have HR 2 or the functional equivalent thereof,” Johnson said.
“It has very important provisions. We reform asylum and the broken parole process. We restore the Trump-era ‘Remain in Mexico‘ policy, which is essential. And you end catch-and-release,” he added.
“We need to rebuild the wall. There are other elements as well, but some of those are essential to stop the flow,” he said.
Despite Biden’s acknowledgment of the border problem, he has refused to take the blame and has called for funding to address the issue.
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