Senior Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) speaks on Oct. 13, 2020.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox News Tuesday, March 9, that al-Qaida and ISIS terrorists may be trying to take advantage of Biden‘s lax immigration policies to send people to the United States. He charged that Biden’s immigration policies have led to an influx of illegal immigrants at the southern border.
In an interview with Sean Hannity, Graham said Biden’s lenient immigration policy shift (away from former President Trump‘s hard-line policies) “is creating a disaster” and that “the worst is yet to come. He warned that on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, “Al Qaeda and ISIS will want nothing more than to attack us again …… to show they are still alive and well.”
Graham said, “This border insecurity is a great way for terrorists to get into our country …… Unless the Biden Administration reverts to some of the policies of the Trump years, there will only be more people running to the U.S. border.”
Biden has recently taken a series of actions aimed at reforming U.S. immigration policy, including sending legislation to Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for the nearly 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, halting construction of the border wall and repealing Trump-era restrictions on asylum seekers.
The Trump Administration had initiated an immigration protection agreement known as the “Stay in Mexico” program (MPP). Under the policy, asylum seekers must wait in Mexico for their U.S. court hearings. On Feb. 12, 2021, Biden’s Department of Homeland Security reversed the program. Under the Biden administration’s new plan, thousands of asylum seekers waiting in Mexico have been allowed into the U.S. and can wait in the U.S. for their immigration cases to be heard.
Graham said Biden’s rollback of Trump’s MPP program policy is what has caused the recent influx of people to the southern border. “(Biden’s) word is out, and Trump’s policies have been replaced by the Biden administration’s (policies). If you take one step into the United States, you will never have to leave.”
In January 2021, federal agents apprehended more than 78,000 illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, more than twice as many as a year earlier, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“By summer, people will …… be coming by the thousands. It’s a humanitarian crisis,” Graham said, “It’s going to be an economic crisis for our cities along the border, and ultimately a national security crisis. Because they’re children today, but they could easily be terrorists tomorrow.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that its announcement that some asylum seekers could cross the border into the United States while hearing their cases “should not be interpreted as an opportunity for people to immigrate to the United States through irregular migration.”
But U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Mich.) said in an interview on the program last week that he disagreed with that interpretation by the Department of Homeland Security. Roy said that’s exactly what people who are trying to enter the United States illegally and those who are human traffickers are saying about the move.
Roy said, “It attracts people to come here. They think they’re going to come here and get Amnesty, so they’re rushing to our border.”
Roe’s statement echoes Graham’s remarks. He said Biden’s immigration policy is a “wide open border” approach that endangers the lives of American citizens and legal immigrants in the United States.
Roy said, “There are immigrants in hiding in houses who are being mistreated.” “There are immigrants who have been abused during their journey as well. There are human traffickers who are using these people for profit. That’s happening right now. And it’s happening because Democrats are irresponsible and refuse to secure our borders.”
In a March 9 interview with the Punchbowl News, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain acknowledged that immigration is a “huge challenge.” Our system has been broken for a long Time,” he said. Previous presidents have tried to fix it, but they can’t fix it.”
A recent Republican staff report noted that Biden should not rush to undo Trump’s moves on border security. The report said, “If the Biden administration continues to repeal President Trump’s immigration policies and implement an aggressive immigration agenda, it will result in less secure borders, less domestic enforcement, and a higher risk of crime. And the risk of other foreigners who want to harm us succeeding increases.”
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