(The Center Square) – From the praise of fellow Democrats to the scoff of opposing Republicans, an executive order involving immigration and the border by President Joe Biden drew only one North Carolina congressional response across the aisle on Tuesday.
“This order is an overdue step, but our southern border is still not secure,” said Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., in a statement alongside Democratic Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Jared Golden of Maine and Mary Peltola of Alaska. “We’ve long demanded President Biden change course and empower the Border Patrol, and he’s finally acting and listening to the law enforcement agents in the field, like we’ve been telling him to do.”
Five months ahead of his showdown at the ballot box with former President Donald Trump, Biden issued an executive order with restrictions on migrants seeking asylum at America’s border with Mexico. The 81-year-old said it was “not a political issue to be weaponized.” He also said, “I’m moving past Republican obstruction and using the executive authorities available to me as president to do what I can on my own to address the border.”
An estimated 11 million people are living in or have entered the country illegally since Biden took office. Consensus national polling, including The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll in January, indicates Republicans care more than Democrats, though levels in each party have been rising.
Biden had told voters for months that he would shut down the border if Congress allows, even as his press secretary for months said the border was not open. At a news conference Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke of a failed Senate proposal Biden was citing as “obstruction.”
“He tried to convince us all,” Johnson said, “for all this time that there was no way he could possibly fix the mess.”
Biden on his first day in office issued an executive order to “declare an immediate termination of the national emergency declaration that was used as a pretext to justify some of the funding diversions for the wall.”The proclamation directed an immediate pause in the border wall construction projects that originated under former President Donald Trump.
Davis’ statement went on, “But make no mistake: this job is far from over for the president and Congress. To that end, in addition to his action today, President Biden needs to use the authority given to the executive by Congress to immediately reimplement 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(C), and we are again calling on leaders in both the House and Senate to pass legislation to give the Border Patrol back the expulsion authority that expired last year.
“Border security must be the top national security priority for President Biden. The president needs to do all he can to restore operational control of our southern border, and stop drug cartels from trafficking fentanyl into communities across America.”
Three weeks away from a June 27 debate between Biden and Trump, Republicans called out the president. Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., said this was “Biden’s mass amnesty” and later called it “radical and dangerous.”
Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Ted Budd, R-N.C., each cited the timing, as did Rep. Dr. Greg Murphy, R-N.C.
Tillis said, “Joe Biden had the authority to do this for the last 1,232 days. What did he do instead? Reverse all of Trump’s border security executive actions. The result? Nearly 10 million encounters with illegals and the worst border crisis in our history. This desperate election-year announcement is too little, too late.”
Budd said, “It took allowing nearly 10 million illegal immigrants into our country – and over half a million with criminal records – to get President Biden’s attention. Today’s announcement has more to do with securing President Biden’s political position than securing the border. The truth is that President Biden caused the border crisis, he has enabled it, and no amount of 11th hour executive action is going to fully solve it. North Carolinians know that the only way the border will ever be secure is to have a president with the right policies and the strength to get it done.”
Murphy, recovering from surgery, said, “President Biden has had over three years to secure our border but chooses to act just months out from an election.He isn’t really serious about border security or public safety, just being reelected.”
Newton’s law regarding actions having equal and opposite reactions could be traced in the response by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C.
“Awet Hagos,” Hudson said, “an illegal migrant on the Terrorist Watch List, was arrested in North Carolina after he fired shots and attacked cops. Joe Biden’s executive order gives a green light for nearly 1.8 million illegals, like Awet, to invade our nation every year. Under Biden, our communities are less safe.”
The communications office of Rep. Alma Adams told The Center Square she was busy voting and would not have a response by close of business Tuesday. Other Democrats were quiet as well with exception of Rep. Wiley Nickel.
He responded to a request from The Center Square, and put into a release later, “I applaud President Biden for taking this important first step to secure the border and reform our broken immigration system. It’s been over 100 days since Congressional Republicans walked away from the table on the most comprehensive bipartisan border security deal in decades because former President Trump wants to politicize the issue rather than find an actual solution.
“The best way to restore order at the border and fix our broken immigration system is through Congress. It’s time for House Republican leadership to bring the Senate’s bipartisan border security bill to the floor for a vote.”
