:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/MQ4THZVWQQQ42X6NTP53IBYIUE.jpg "Biden asked Congress to approve immigration reform to close the border with Mexico when it is “collapsed”")
President Joe Biden urged Republicans in Congress on Friday to approve a bipartisan immigration control law that would grant him “new emergency authority” to close the border with Mexico “when it is collapsed.” The proposed bill, the result of two months of negotiations between conservative legislators and officials of Biden’s government, includes tough and fair reforms to ensure border security.
“It would give me, as president, new emergency authority to close the border when it is collapsed. And if I had that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill,” said President Biden in a statement.
The proposed measures include the hiring of additional border patrol agents, immigration judges, asylum officers, and machines to detect fentanyl at the border. The US president also urged the Republican Party to “take the border crisis seriously” and pass the bipartisan bill, while requesting support for additional funds to strengthen surveillance and prosecution of migrants.
However, Biden’s call for approval of the immigration reform bill came hours after Republican Mike Johnson, the president of the House of Representatives, warned that the pact has no future in the Lower House, where conservatives have a narrow majority. Johnson expressed his belief that the solution to the border crisis involves a bill approved by Republicans in the House of Representatives last year, which makes it difficult to request asylum, resumes the construction of a border wall, and revives the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), forcing those seeking to cross the border to wait in Mexican territory for the result of their procedures.
US immigration authorities detained 302,034 migrants and asylum seekers at the southwest border in December, a record number in the last three years, according to data published by the Customs and Border Control Office (CBP). Given the high flow of migrants arriving at the country’s southwest border, CBP was forced to reassign agents and suspend the process at several border port crossings in Texas, Arizona, and California.
Biden’s request is part of the ongoing efforts to address the challenges at the US-Mexico border and create comprehensive immigration policies. As the border situation continues to demand attention and resources, the debate and negotiations over immigration reform are expected to remain at the forefront of political discussions in the coming months.