Former Trump administration immigration officials criticized President Joe Biden on Thursday for proposing mass amnesty for illegal immigrants living in the U.S.
Biden told Congress to pass his American Dream and Promise Act if they believe in securing the southern border or a pathway to citizenship for around 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally. Former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials and Heritage Foundation experts said Biden’s proposal would worsen the migrant crisis at the southern border, according to a press release.
“This is a crisis of his own making,” former DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement. “Instead of returning to commonsense enforcement, the Biden administration is pushing forward with a massive amnesty proposal that will exacerbate the crisis and undermine the rule of law.”
The US is enduring the worst border crisis in our history. Biden ignored the crisis entirely in his address (other than making a brief push for amnesty). He also declined to explain his decision to halt criminal deportations, expand low-wage visas, or raise the refugee cap. 1/3
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) April 29, 2021
Former acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan criticized the Biden administration for rewarding illegal immigrants with amnesty and urged Congress to reject his proposal. He added that border security and following laws shouldn’t be a partisan issue.
“Congress needs to pass legislation this year to finally secure protection for the Dreamers – the young people who have only known America as their home,” Biden said.
“And, permanent protections for immigrants on temporary protected status who come from countries beset by man—made and natural made violence and disaster,” Biden said. “As well as a pathway to citizenship for farmworkers who put food on our tables.”
The Biden administration’s amnesty plan would offer citizenship to around 30 million undocumented immigrants and would worsen the crisis at the southern border, Morgan said in a statement. A Yale study estimated at least 16.7 million undocumented immigrants were living in the U.S. in 2016.
Law enforcement officials are expected to encounter more migrants this year than in the last 20 years, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. CBP officials have encountered nearly 351,803 migrants at the southern border since January 2021.
“Joe Biden’s border crisis has gotten so bad, he wants to blame almost anyone, or anything, else for the consequences of his actions,” Former acting DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said in a statement. (RELATED: Biden Will Push Immigration Policy In Congressional Address: Report)
Biden’s amnesty proposal undermines the Constitution and U.S. law, Cuccinelli said.
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