Biden administration must use authorities to secure the border, say Hoeven, Republicans

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) on March 21 joined more than a dozen of his GOP colleagues in proposing a resolution criticizing the Biden administration’s immigration policies and calling for the border to be immediately secured.

“Since day one, the Biden administration has neglected its responsibility to secure our nation’s borders, advancing policies that have enabled this illegal immigration crisis to grow,” Sen. Hoeven said on Monday. “President Biden has the authority and tools needed to get operational control of the border, but he refuses to use them.”

Such tools, said the senator, include reinstating the Remain in Mexico Policy, strictly enforcing Third Safe Country Agreements, and resuming construction of the border wall using funding already provided by Congress. 

“Those are the sorts of policies we need to empower our border professionals to do their jobs and secure the border,” said Sen. Hoeven.

Senate Resolution 608, which is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), has 14 original cosponsors, including Sen. Hoeven and U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). The resolution is being led in the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX).

The Biden administration’s open-borders policies have incentivized nearly 9.3 million illegal aliens from all around the world, including criminal aliens and suspected terrorists, to arrive at America’s southwest border, the resolution says.

To help combat the crisis, the resolution says that the Biden administration has the authority needed to end the illegal immigration crisis by using several other tools, as well, including ending the catch-and-release policy; reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols; entering into asylum cooperative agreements; and ending abuses of parole authority, among others.

If enacted, the resolution would affirm that the Biden administration is refusing to use such authorities, and should “immediately begin using such authorities.”