House Speaker Mike Johnson is responding to news President Joe Biden may finally use his executive authority to implement some kind of border security measure ahead of next week's State of the Union address.
"House Republicans have been sounding the alarm about the catastrophic effects of President Biden's open border policies since he began his term. Last year, I sent a letter to the President to demand he take immediate executive action. He has thus far ignored my demands, and the pleas from big city mayors, border state governors, and the American people," Johnson released in a statement Thursday afternoon. "Americans have lost faith in this President and won't be fooled by election year gimmicks that don't actually secure the border. Nor will they forget that the President created this catastrophe and, until now, has refused to use his executive power to fix it."
Johnson continued by pointing out the coincidental timing of Biden's potential executive order and called out Biden's previous claims he was powerless to do anything to solve the problem.
"Now, in an election year, after the president has surrendered the border to cartels and smugglers, after tens of thousands of Americans have tragically lost their lives due to fentanyl poisoning, after countless unaccompanied minors and young people have been subjected to human trafficking, and after millions of illegal aliens have been scattered by the Biden administration throughout our country the President suddenly seems interested in trying to make a change using the legal authority that he claimed until recently didn't exist," Johnson said. "These reports also underscore just how brazenly and intentionally President Biden misled the public when he claimed he had done everything in his power to secure the border. Specifically, the President's alleged desire to invoke Section 212 (f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which the White House dismissed using for months, is particularly telling."
Meanwhile, Biden is already receiving pushback from the left flank of the Democratic Party.
Doing Trump impressions isn’t how we beat Trump.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 22, 2024
Seeking asylum is a legal right of all people. In the face of authoritarian threat, we should not buckle on our principles - we should commit to them.
The mere suggestion is outrageous and the President should refuse to sign it. https://t.co/Jd2cSSNDF7