The White House statement comes after a week of frantic negotiations in the Senate.

The White House statement comes after a week of frantic negotiations in the Senate.

President Joe Biden on Friday urged Congress to pass a bipartisan bill to address the immigration crisis at the nation’s southern border, saying he would shut down the border the day the bill became law.

“What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said in a statement. “It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”

Biden’s Friday evening statement resembles a ramping up in rhetoric for the administration, placing the president philosophically in the camp arguing that the border may hit a point where closure is needed. The White House’s decision to have Biden weigh in also speaks to the delicate nature of the dealmaking, and the urgency facing his administration to take action on the border — particularly during an election year, when Republicans have used the issue to rally their base.

The president is also daring Republicans to reject the deal as it faces a make-or-break moment amid GOP fissures.

  • Marcbmann@lemmy.world
    2·
    9 months ago

    You should look at what the requirements look like for an immigrant Visa. The average person in South America does not have the ability to satisfy those requirements. But that doesn’t mean they are unable to become a valuable and contributing member of society.

    I know people in the US that came here illegally and have gone on to become business owners. But only because they were able to meet and marry a US citizen.

    There needs to be a legal path to entry. And we should be stopping the flood of people coming over the border at the same time.

    • Kaboom@reddthat.com
      111·
      9 months ago

      We can only take so many, so quickly. What we’re doing now is completely unsustainable.

      So why not select for the best and brightest?

      • Marcbmann@lemmy.world
        2·
        9 months ago

        I can’t agree with that. It’s only unsustainable because we have a flood of immigrants coming over the border and a catch-and-release program.

        And my wife has a PhD, of which she did a year in the US. Not in something useless like poetry, but in meteorology. She did not have the connections to get a US sponsorship from an employer. So without knowing someone, she was without options.

        I know immigrants who have found their way into the US legally, and overstayed. They have gone on to become business owners, or successful in their respective fields. The issue with your assumption is that you think we’re actually effective at selecting the best and brightest.

        The reality is that if we secured our borders, we wouldn’t be overwhelmed.

      • horsey@lemm.eeEnglish
        42·
        9 months ago

        People who work highly educated or skilled jobs don’t actually want the US to allow a bunch of immigrants to come and compete with them. That’s the situation with tech workers and H1B visas. Jobs going unfilled right now are not the ones worked by the best and brightest or most highly educated…

          • horsey@lemm.eeEnglish
            21·
            9 months ago

            What would be best for American workers is for immigrants to either have full right to work and be in the country, and therefore full wages and protection of labor laws, or not be in the labor force at all. Business owners want them to be here in a vulnerable, marginalized position so they can take advantage of them, which also screws over citizens. Note that it’s the business owners who hire illegal immigrants screwing over Americans, not the immigrants.