Lawmakers Resort to Bipartisan Bill Forcing Biden Admin's Hand on Spiraling Border Crisis
Lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday requiring the Department of Homeland Security to draft a strategy to manage the surge of illegal migrants at the southern border in order to access emergency funds.
The bill, sponsored by New York Republican Rep. John Katko and Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, reflects growing concern that the increase in migrants amounts to a humanitarian crisis.
Once the plan is activated, DHS could pull $1 billion from a Migration Surge Border Response Fund as needed, meaning that the agency would not have to reallocate money from its own budget to pay for food, transportation or first aid for the migrants.
“After hearing firsthand from border patrol agents, it’s clear they need interagency backup and accountability across the Federal Government to appropriately handle border surges,” Katko said in a joint statement.
“We need greater confidence that the Federal Government can manage these crises going forward. This bill would do just that,” Katko said.
Katko also urged the Biden administration to “reverse the misguided policy decisions which created this crisis to begin with and invest in strong border security.”
“It is critical that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proactive and develops a strategy to adequately manage large migration flows at our southern border,” Cuellar said in the statement.
“This bipartisan legislation will allow the federal government to employ a whole-of-government approach to create a response framework that anticipates migration surges, allowing them to quickly shift resources and take immediate action to mitigate a humanitarian crisis.”
“It should never be acceptable for political inaction to impact the Federal Government’s obligation to secure our border,” the statement added.
“Border security demands clear-eyed acknowledgement of the realities on the ground, not deflection or denial of responsibility.”
DHS projections first reported by Axios suggest that the current migration surge could last for over seven months, with as many as 26,000 unaccompanied children reaching the border by September 2021.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in March that illegal border crossings were on pace to hit a 20-year high, even as the U.S. expelled the majority of single adults and families.
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