Two lawmakers on opposite sides of the aisle warned Sunday that the decline in migrants at the U.S. southern border is likely not permanent and called for congressional action to stem the decline.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), in two separate interviews on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” agreed that illegal crossings have declined in recent months, but they poured cold water on about the numbers that remain that way.
When asked by “Face the Nation” anchor Margaret Brennan whether the decline in the number of migrants crossing is due to the Mexican government or Biden administration policy, Murphy said, “It’s because, I think, of smart diplomacy and effective between the United States and the Mexican government.”
According to internal government data obtained by CBS News Last week, illegal crossings at the southern border decreased by more than 50 percent compared to the record highs seen in December.
“I don’t know if it’s permanent,” Murphy continued. “And so, I think we have to recognize that without updating the laws of this country, without directing more resources to the border, we cannot count on the numbers remaining as low as they are today.”
Gonzales, in turn, argued that the decrease is not related to President Biden’s actions at the border.
“Well, first of all, it has nothing to do with what Joe Biden did. We are on track for 1.3 million people to come illegally. The numbers are down. The explanation is Mexico,” he said on Sunday, adding later, “In many, many ways, this is just Mexico taking Biden a few rounds. Now that Joe Biden wants to secure this for the long term, I think he needs to stop looking for a solution in the Senate and look to the House.”
Gonzales noted that Mexico will hold elections next month and will have an incentive to keep the number of border crossings low ahead of the June 2 election rush.
For the second time in recent months, the Senate voted last week against a bipartisan border security bill negotiated over the fall and winter by Murphy, Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Krysten Sinema (I-Ariz.).
Murphy said Sunday that he and many colleagues were “heartbroken” over the failed vote.
“And remember, today, there are about 3,000 people crossing the border every day. This is still a high number compared to what we saw 10 years ago,” he said. And so for many of us, we are heartbroken.”
“We are unhappy that our Republican colleagues in Congress continue to vote against bipartisan border security, which would give us the opportunity to actually give the president the resources and authorities to make this a permanent change, to keep the numbers under control. control. permanently,” he added.
Gonzales suggested that Biden needs to have more “conversations” with members of the House, and not just the Senate, where the border bill was negotiated.
“The Chamber is where I believe you start if you really want to solve the problem. Now, if you want to talk about politics and just blame someone else, then you hold the issue in the Senate and say we’re trying, we’re doing the best we can,” Gonzales said.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
Murphy maintained that his party supports bipartisan border security, repeating the accusation that Republicans and former President Trump are trying to use the border as an issue to be discussed in November of this year.
“President Trump’s desire to keep the border a mess because he thinks it helps him politically. This is the clearest contrast that has ever been available to the Democratic Party on the border issue,” he said. “Democrats support bipartisan border security, Republicans want the border to be messy because it’s good policy for them. And the president and every Democrat running for office should talk about it.”
After last week’s vote, Biden criticized Republicans for blocking the legislation, arguing that the GOP 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, today, they put partisan politics ahead of our country’s national security,” he said in a statement Thursday.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
