OPINION:
The current political environment is terrible for Democrats — and that is putting it mildly. Poll after poll shows that Americans disapprove of President Biden’s performance. On two key issues, Mr. Biden is so far underwater that he needs scuba gear. His handling of the economy has an approval rating of just 29%, with 69% disapproving. Likewise on immigration, only 37% of Americans think he is doing a good job, compared with 60% who disapprove.
Not surprisingly, polls show that the GOP has a 3.5-point advantage in the 2022 generic congressional ballot. With the border crisis raging and prices rising, and little being done to address either, it is all but certain that Republicans will take control of one or both chambers in November.
If Republicans are successful, they will have a lot on their plate, including the worst border crisis in American history. Voting “no” against Democrat-led bills will no longer cut it. The American people, who put them into power, will ask: Now what are you going to do to stop it?
Republicans, assuming they will have a working majority next year, need to prepare a plan for ending the Biden border crisis now. That is why a coalition of organizations, including the Federation for American Immigration Reform, joined immigration policymakers from the Trump administration and sent a letter laying out a blueprint for Republican leaders on how to respond to the voters’ mandate to regain control of our borders and immigration policy.
Republicans missed the opportunity to properly legislate in previous Congresses, and the stakes are too high to fail again. Americans have now witnessed the disastrous consequences of open borders and will no longer tolerate inaction from the GOP. Retreading the same broken “comprehensive immigration reform” amnesty blueprint or simply delaying any handling of the issue is not going to work. It’s both political and policy malpractice.
To deliver for the American people and end the crisis, our coalition offered pragmatic solutions that address the heart of the issue — our broken immigration laws that incentivize and enable the chaos we see today.
The blueprint includes 10 specific items that the new leadership can address on the first day of the 118th Congress as part of a flagship border security bill. Aside from excluding amnesty of any kind for lawbreakers, the bill must include components that fix the asylum process. Some of these proposals include raising the credible fear standard so that immigration officials can nip frivolous asylum claims in the bud; clarifying that an alien is ineligible for asylum in the U.S. if they traveled through a safe third country; mandating the “Remain in Mexico” program, and legislating that gang violence and domestic violence — issues that plague every country in the world — are not grounds for asylum.
The Biden administration willfully destroyed immigration enforcement and created this crisis. Under the president’s watch, Customs and Border Protection apprehended more than 2 million illegal aliens in 2021. Each subsequent month seems to break longstanding records of illegal alien encounters. Even worse, powerful drug cartels south of the border now see human smuggling as a profitable endeavor, and their profits continue soaring as a result of our policies.
The fact is Congress has the power to address the root cause of this crisis through legislation and constitutional oversight of the executive branch if it chooses to do so. Despite what border czar Vice President Kamala Harris or the open borders Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says, the root cause of the crisis does not lie in Central and South America — it lies right here in our own country, within our own laws and the policies of a rogue administration. A new Congress must act to codify changes to our immigration system that deter illegal immigration, crack down on frivolous asylum claims and restore order at our southern border.
Our coalition stands ready to assist lawmakers in the creation of a border security bill that will make meaningful changes to our immigration laws, protect the American public and restore faith in the federal government’s ability to maintain control of its own borders. Passage of such a bill must be a top priority in the 118th Congress. If Republican leaders are smart, they’ll put it out there now.
• Dan Stein is the president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
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