Congress Must Legislate Policy Changes to End the Border Crisis, Says FAIR

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly halfway through the fiscal year, Congress has failed to act on two of its most pressing responsibilities: approving a federal budget and addressing a raging illegal immigration crisis that threatens to bankrupt state and local governments, while imperiling our national security.

The approval of yet another "clean" Continuing Resolution (CR) means that more than halfway through the Republicans' control of the House of Representatives, the government is still operating under a budget that was enacted by open-borders advocate Nancy Pelosi, and another opportunity to impose restraints on the Biden administration's open-borders policies has slipped away.

With the federal government funded into early March, Congress must now enact real policy changes to stop this crisis by ending the mass release of illegal aliens, stopping asylum abuse, and ending the unlawful use of parole. Congress has the opportunity to do just that by including strong border security language in the foreign aid bill requested by President Biden.

"The situation we are facing at our borders and in communities all across the country cannot be rectified with cosmetic changes to failed policies, or by fueling those policies with money," said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). "H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, which was passed in the House last May, provides the legislative changes needed to end the ruinous policies that have led to unprecedented levels of illegal immigration.

"House Speaker Mike Johnson must make it clear that if H.R. 2 is not included in the supplemental foreign aid package, his chamber will not approve another CR that continues to fund the same disastrous policies at FY 2023 levels.

"With passage of the CR, congressional Republicans have bought themselves six weeks to enact legislation that forces the Biden administration to control the border and end mass illegal immigration," Stein continued. "Whether it is in a comprehensive FY 2024 budget bill, or included in the supplemental foreign aid package that the president has requested, the policy reforms in H.R. 2 must be enacted.

"Republicans, particularly in the House where they hold the majority, have the leverage they need to end the immigration madness that the Biden administration has created. The American public is duly alarmed and wants it ended. The president wants additional aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. Anything short of serious policy changes that end the border crisis will rightly be seen as a sell-out by the American public," concluded Stein.

Contact: Joey Chester, 202-742-1827, [email protected]

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)