WASHINGTON (TND) — White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration has had a plan to address the issues at the border since the first day President Joe Biden took office, including things like a path to citizenship for migrants.
The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 included things like allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for temporary legal status, with the ability to apply for green cards after five years if they pass background checks and pay their taxes, as well as giving funding to update technology and infrastructure at the border for screening and identifying drugs and contraband.
However, the plan wasn’t one that would pass, since Democrats hold both the House and the Senate. Due to this, Democrats would need Senate Republican votes to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to avoid a filibuster. Without those votes, the plan can’t move forward.
The legislation was introduced in the House but hasn’t been brought up for a vote. Reports claim the lack of bipartisan support stopped Democrats from bringing it to the floor and they instead tried to move forward with smaller immigration legislation.
It’s no secret the White House doesn’t approach the southern border like the previous administration. Just a few weeks ago, Biden said he would not visit the border during a trip to Arizona because there were more important things going on. While Biden has yet to have an official visit, Vice President Kamala Harris, who was put in charge of border security, has taken a trip. Biden also recently announced he will visit Mexico in the new year.
An analysis from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, labeled the bill as the “most radical piece of immigration legislation ever introduced in America” due to its intent to erase the distinction between legal and illegal immigration, its lack of border security and high costs to the American taxpayer, as the bill allocates $4 billion to help reduce corruption in Central America in hopes to reduce migration.
Indeed, we’ve seen a variety of approaches to the southern border over the last few administrations, specifically with the border wall. Construction of the wall began in the 1990s under President Bill Clinton. In 1994, Clinton implemented “Operation Gatekeeper,” a strategy that sent more Border Patrol agents and resources to main entry corridors, including building walls and infrastructure where there was none previously.
In the early 2000s, around 700 miles of the border wall had been constructed as part of President George W. Bush’s Secure Fence Act of 2006. Even though President Barrack Obama didn’t sign that bill into law, he oversaw the construction of 128 miles of a new border wall. He also said that we cannot allow people to “pour into the United States undocumented, unchecked, and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently and lawfully.”
Looking at the present administration, Biden promised in 2020 that there will “not be another foot of wall constructed,” but construction hasn’t completely stopped. One reason is that the president doesn’t have the authority to take back already approved funds, only Congress does. Since Democrats haven’t been able to make that happen thus far, DHS is required to continue building.
On top of that, the Biden administration this month announced it is going to work to close gaps in the wall, as well as fix environmental issues with previous construction.
ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7zZqroqeeYsSwvsudZqGnp2KxprnOnKmarF2XvLOwxKtkqaecnrCqsdJmn5qulWKwqa3NoJydZZ%2BrsrN506GcZrGVlr%2B0ecGim56mXaSvornAZqurrZ2leqS4yKerqKZdnrqutcarmK2hn6N6qbvUrJxmq5WjrrWxjK2csZmjYq6ztdmopZpllp65rbXBrqqtnaJivbOx0qKbnqakYrewsYyboJ2dnmK6qrPRmqWtq12qwG6vyK2gs52eqLWqvIyamq1ln5t6c3yRamSmoZenrq%2FA0mabq62XqHqku82tqZqakaOx