Johnson Calls On Biden to Use Executive Power To Halt Mass Illegal Immigration
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is pressing President Joe Biden to exercise his Executive Branch authority to enforce stricter immigration and border security measures. This call comes after Biden dismantled most of former President Donald Trump’s border policies on his first day in office.
In a letter obtained by Axios, Johnson urged Biden to act immediately to stem the tide of migrants crossing illegally into the U.S., which has severely strained U.S. Border Patrol resources.
“We passed H.R. 2 more than six months ago, but Senate Democrats have refused to act on it,” Johnson wrote, referring to the GOP's strong border security bill. “While a bipartisan group of Senators has been negotiating in recent weeks to find a compromise, no agreement has been finalized.”
Johnson proposed that Biden reinstate Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, requiring asylum seekers to remain south of the border while awaiting decisions from U.S. immigration courts.
He also called for an end to the Biden administration’s use of parole programs that are a cornerstone of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Catch and Release system, according to Breitbart News.
Johnson emphasized the need to resume border wall construction and accelerate the deportation process, ensuring that migrants unable to prove asylum eligibility are swiftly removed.
Another critical demand from Johnson is for Biden to stop issuing work permits to migrants who crossed into the country illegally.
Providing work permits, Johnson argued, acts as a major incentive for illegal immigration. The wages, even if low by U.S. standards, often exceed those in the migrants’ home countries and can be used to pay off debts owed to Mexican drug cartels. This policy, Johnson noted, indirectly enriches international human smuggling operations, Breitbart further reported.
Meanwhile, growing discontent within Biden’s own party over his border policies is becoming more apparent ahead of the 2024 elections.
Last week, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, took a rare step by issuing an executive order directing elements of the Arizona National Guard to deploy to the state’s southern border as the migrant crisis worsened.
In her order, Hobbs criticized Biden for the ongoing “unmitigated humanitarian crisis” along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. She specifically called out the federal government’s refusal to provide troops to secure a portion of the border where thousands of migrants are entering the country illegally every day.
“Yet again, the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border and keep our communities safe,” Hobbs said in a statement. “With this Executive Order, I am taking action where the federal government won’t. But we can’t stand alone. Arizona needs resources and manpower to reopen the Lukeville crossing, manage the flow of migrants, and maintain a secure, orderly, and humane border. Despite repeated requests for assistance, the Biden administration has failed to deliver the resources Arizona desperately needs.”
Hobbs had previously urged Biden to deploy federally-ordered troops. Currently, about 2,500 National Guard members are on federal orders at the southern border, including 243 in Arizona's Tucson Sector, according to the Washington Examiner.
Hobbs’ administration has also launched "Operation Secure," an initiative where the National Guard will support the state’s Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement. The mission includes tasks such as fentanyl interdiction, human trafficking enforcement, and analytical support to address border-related violations of state law, her executive order stated.