Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham pushed back against CBS host Margaret Brennan Sunday over the southern border crisis, stating that Mexico’s involvement with the border “is not complicated.”
Graham appeared on “Face The Nation” to discuss the ongoing southern border crisis. CBS host Margaret Brennan asked the South Carolina senator “what number” of expulsions for migrants would he allow “without a guarantee of an asylum hearing.”
Graham stated that the number would be “zero,” emphasizing that not only is the “system” broken but that there needs to be a reimplementation of Title 42. (RELATED: ICE Held Fewer Than 37,000 Migrants In Detention At Close Of 2023 While More Than 6 Million Went Free, Report Shows)
“At zero…We turned people back because of COVID – we had a pandemic in the country. Our system is broken. You’re gonna have mayors talking about more money to help relocate migrants. We’re not gonna have a remain in Texas policy,” Graham stated.
“I don’t know if Abbott will win in court having a state law to deal with this. I don’t know if he will or not, but he’s a desperate man trying to protect his state. So to the mayors, call up the White House and say, we’re Republicans to change asylum, change parole, but implement a title 42 authority that would stop the inflow. We’re full. Don’t come.”
Following an additional question regarding an agreed upon expulsion authority within the lawmakers group, Graham stated that “expedited removal is on the table.” However, when bringing up migrants remaining in Mexico Brennan interjected to note that the issue between the U.S. Supreme Court and Mexican government was “complicated.”
Graham then pushed back denying the complication, additionally adding that the “asylum laws are being abused.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: FBI Has Massive 15 Month Backlog On DNA Testing For Migrants, Unearthed Emails Show)
“I am telling you right now, expedited removal is on the table. They want more exceptions to make the rule almost meaningless. We’re having to pull teeth to change policy. This is not an irregular migration. That’s a bunch of BS. This is a predictable outcome of bad policy choices made right after Biden became president. We all said if you don’t do a remain in Mexico, you’re going to have a run on the border,” Graham stated.
“Well, you know, the Supreme Court got involved in that and that’s complicated with the Mexican government too. But in the past,” Brennan stated.
“It’s not complicated. No, It’s not complicated,” Graham responded.
“Well in the past you’ve suggested in interviews that parole was a sticking point, specifically that part of the policy. Is it a deal breaker for you? What do you want to change?” Brennan questioned.
“Well, under our law, you’re supposed to parole people on an individual basis. They’re using humanitarian parole, a concept not even in law to parole people at 145,000 a clip. I want to go back to the original intent of the law. I don’t want to do anything dramatic. I just want to enforce the law. The asylum laws are being abused, let’s change them. Title 42 authority needs to be reapplied here on the concept that America is full. If you have to wait four years for an asylum hearing, let’s slow down the asylum system – 1.7 million people are ready to be deported. Lets deport them before letting new people in,” Graham stated.
In August 2022 the Biden Administration ended a program that was used to expel migrants to Mexico who were awaiting immigration proceedings, commonly known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which was implemented by former President Donald Trump. The move from the Biden administration was confirmed by a prior ruling in June 2022, in which the Supreme Court had allowed the administration to terminate the policy.
However, the Texas attorney general soon sued the administration for ending the program, leading a federal judge to then block the move from the Biden team.