Alabama Today
Kate Britt, Tommy Tuberville, John Cornyn, and colleagues introduce resolution to strike down Joe Biden’s border policies
By Brandon Moseley
U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-Alabama) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) recently joined Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and five colleagues in introducing a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to strike down President Biden’s Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule.
The Biden Administration’s rule purports to take a hard line on illegal migration. However, the senators argue the rule is riddled with exceptions and funnels migrants into unlawful parole programs that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has set up without Congress’ consent to allow more migrants with weak or non-existent asylum claims to enter the United States.
“As the border disaster rages on, the Biden Administration continues to unilaterally install irresponsible policies that weaken our national security and disregard the rule of law,” said Sen. Britt. “President [Joe] Biden’s Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule is a transparent attempt to reclassify illegal migration as legal immigration so that the unprecedented numbers at the border appear better on paper than they are in reality.”
“Last month, encounters at the border jumped by 30%,” Britt continued. “The Administration is clearly unserious about ending this crisis, as they are pulling 1,100 active duty personnel from the border while daily encounters continue to rise steadily. This rule is just the latest in a series of dangerous and unserious policies that allow transnational criminal organizations like the cartels to illegally traffic deadly drugs into our communities, schools, and homes. It’s time for the Administration to actually secure the border – not let more people into our country’s interior under different terminology.”
“Joe Biden can’t run from his record on the border,” said Sen. Tuberville. “He single-handedly caused the worst border crisis in our history, flooding our country with some 5 million illegal border crossings and unprecedented quantities of deadly drugs. His latest rule might score political points, but it’s riddled with loopholes and won’t actually protect our country. I’m proud to join my colleagues today to stand up and stop it.”
“The Biden administration’s rule is an unserious attempt at resolving the border crisis and is full of loopholes that the cartels will easily exploit to continue moving unlawful migrants into the United States and overwhelm our Border Patrol,” Sen. Cornyn said. “Rather than stop unlawful migration, President Biden is using this rule to funnel the migrants into unlawful parole programs, and this resolution would put an end to this shell game to hide an unprecedented level of illegal immigration.”
Sens Britt, Tuberville, and Cornyn were joined on the resolution by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Steve Daines (R-Montana), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi).
The Biden Administration’s Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule went into effect on the same day the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Title 42 public health order expired on May 11, 2023. This rule funnels migrants into one of three “lawful” pathways, including:
- The Administration’s program to grant parole to up to 30,000 Venezuelans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Cubans per month, as well as other parole programs the Administration has recently set up or expanded;
- The Administration’s “CBP One” mobile app through which migrants can make appointments to enter at land ports of entry, where they may be paroled into the interior and given work authorizations;
- Seeking asylum at any place or time after having been denied asylum in a third country.
The Sens. claim that the first two pathways constitute an abuse of the DHS Secretary’s parole authority, which under our immigration law is only to be used on a true case-by-case basis.
The Senators further claim that illegal immigrants and the transnational criminal organizations that take advantage of them will quickly learn to exploit these loopholes and overwhelm our detention facilities as Border Patrol attempts to adjudicate whether migrants fall into one of the numerous exceptions.
Katie Britt is the Ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.