Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) suggested Sunday that the timing of President Biden’s purported executive order on border security is to blame for Republican inaction in Congress, pushing back against GOP criticism that the order is coming too late.
“Well, look at him [Biden] wanted… he thought it would be validated if Congress did that. The Republicans aren’t going to do that, so he has to do something,” Swalwell said when asked on Nation News “The Hill Sunday” if Biden’s expected border executive order is “too late.”
Biden is expected to sign an executive order this week that will address immigration and border security amid criticism from both parties over his handling of the situation at the border,NewsNation reported last week,citing a border community leader who requested anonymity.NewsNationis owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.
The White House’s replanted plans would block asylum requests and automatically deny entry to migrants once the number of people encountered by U.S. border officials exceeds a new daily limit, the Associated Press reported last week, citing four people familiar with the subject.
Biden could sign the executive order as early as Tuesday, the news outlet added.
When asked about the expected response from the Democratic Party’s left flank, Swalwell said, “We need border security.”
“And we’re not going to be able to address, you know, legal immigration pathways until Americans feel like there’s real security at the border, because we have a workforce crisis when it comes to hospitality, when it comes to child care, when This is for agriculture,” he said. “But Republicans have pushed this narrative, and the majority want us to have a flow of legal immigration that solves this.”
The executive order, if signed, comes just weeks after Senate Republicans helped sink long-sought border security legislation. Biden argued last month that the vote shows the Republican Party doesn’t care about securing the U.S. southern border.
“Republicans in Congress don’t care about securing the border or fixing America’s broken immigration system. If they did, they would have voted in favor of the toughest border enforcement in history. Instead, they put partisan politics ahead of our country’s national security,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill on Sunday.
The vote marked the second failed attempt to pass the bipartisan legislation, which would have hired more Border Patrol agents, immigration judges and asylum officers while also providing funding for technology to detect and stop fentanyl trafficking.
White House officials have not confirmed the expected executive order, though the spokesperson noted to The Hill: “As we have said before, the Administration continues to explore a range of policy options and we remain committed to taking action to address our immigration system. flat broke-bankrupt. ”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) argued that the executive order is “too little too late.”
Johnson said Biden is only taking action on the issue because of recent polls that suggest immigration is Americans’ top concern.
“And now he wants to issue some kind of executive order, I guess to show that, oh, he really cares about this issue. The only reason he’s doing this is because the polls say this is the biggest problem in America,” Johnson said.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
