Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks (R-Okla.).
Republicans this week circulated a memo describing their plan to resist Biden‘s “radical” and “immoral” immigration policies. Republicans want to unite against Biden’s reversal of Trump-era border protection policies.
In a memo to members and staff, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) said, “President Biden’s mission is to reshape our nation’s immigration system into a political direction that embraces the far left rather than American citizens.”
Republicans have proposed a series of controversial immigration orders and policies from the new administration that were designed to roll back many of the Trump-era border protections and crackdowns on illegal immigration.
Biden has already begun rolling back Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP). He has ordered a halt to border wall construction and ended the Trump-era travel ban, while his administration has tried to impose a 100-day moratorium on deportations. While the ban has been blocked by a number of lawsuits, the Biden Administration has narrowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) deportation enforcement priorities.
In addition to these measures, congressional Democrats have enacted the U.S. Citizenship Act (U.S. Citizenship Act). The bill would provide an eight-year path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants, as well as a host of other measures to liberalize the immigration system.
Republicans noted, “Under normal circumstances, President Biden’s immigration policies would be irresponsible. In the midst of the current pandemic, it is immoral in light of Biden’s domestic policies.” “It is absolutely contradictory for Biden to ease restrictions on illegal immigration externally while keeping the American people closed in a Communist China Virus (COVID) society internally.”
The memo refers to the border crisis. In recent weeks, a surge in illegal immigration at the southern U.S.-Mexico border has led to the need for the government to provide more immigration facilities in Texas for migrant families and unaccompanied minors.
The memo goes over the Trump policies that were overturned by Biden, specifically mentioning the statute that Biden reintroduced: catch and release. Illegal immigrants are released into the United States soon after being caught at customs. And that policy had been terminated by Trump in 2019, but is now being reinstated by Biden.
The lawmakers said that a “massive” rescission of Trump’s policy in the midst of a pandemic and a surge in illegal immigration at the border “would only further undermine an already volatile situation, which should be addressed carefully and thoughtfully, rather than through frantic executive action “.
In addition, the group criticized the Biden administration for its decision to give Americans priority over illegal immigrants in vaccine distribution to receive injections.
Regarding immigration reform legislation, the organization is critical on many fronts, including Amnesty and measures to reduce restrictions on certain criminals and expand the green card lottery. But it also notes that conservatives have some differences on a number of other fronts, such as the expansion of certain visa programs.
The memo warns Republicans that the trend of such policies will continue throughout the Biden administration, regardless of whether a bulk immigration bill is passed. It warns that Democrats may try to break the bill into smaller, more manageable parts or get it passed by including mandatory checks (such as E-Verify) or by other methods, so it calls out conservative lawmakers who should be ready to oppose it.
The memo adds, “Democrats may also try to attach elements of the proposal to so-called must-pass legislative means, and conservatives should be prepared to fight that.”
The group called for Republican unity in the years-long battle over immigration policy between the two houses of Congress before it could defeat some of Biden’s and the Democrats’ immigration plans.
The memo continued, “In the meantime, conservatives will oppose the Biden administration as long as it considers an interstate travel ban, but is not interested in illegal immigrants crossing multiple national borders without meeting health conditions, entering the United States without quarantine, without vaccinations, and without personal protective equipment.”
The memo says, “As long as the Biden administration overstops small businesses and restricts those small businesses with burdensome regulations and mandatory blockades, and then uses the tax revenue generated by those businesses to provide services to illegal immigrants and begins amnesty for illegal immigrants, conservatives will fight back.” “As long as the Biden administration spends valuable resources elsewhere, only to have American students miss out on years of Education, conservatives will demand reparations.”
That strategy could be tested in the coming weeks, as Democrats have said they intend to bring two immigration bills to a vote: one to give legal status to illegal farm workers and another to give legal status to “Dreamers.
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