Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican, demanded Friday that President Biden acknowledge a “crisis” at the border and come up with new solutions that don’t include telling illegal immigrants to come to the U.S.
In a letter to Mr. Biden, Mr. McCarthy asked for a meeting to talk over the migrant surge, which is already trending ahead of the 2019 surge that saw about 1 million people jump the border. He pointed to rising numbers of arrests, and particularly of illegal immigrant children who showed up without parents.
“In the face of all of this, I feel compelled to express great concern with the manner in which your administration is approaching this crisis, but with hope that we can work together to solve it,” the California lawmaker wrote.
Mr. Biden took office with a vow to reverse the Trump legacy on immigration.
Security experts, though, say those Trump policies were all that was holding back a new surge of migrants, and Mr. Biden erased much of the Trump framework without having a new policy in place.
Now both Homeland Security, which handles the border and deportations, and Health and Human Services, which is tasked with caring for the illegal immigrant children, are struggling to handle the waves of people attempting to enter.
The Biden administration has declined invitations to label the new surge a “crisis,” instead calling it a “challenge” that they say they’re prepared to meet.
Mr. McCarthy questioned that.
He took aim at Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who this week told migrants “we are not saying don’t come, we are saying don’t come now.”
“To be clear: there is never a “right time” to violate the laws of the United States. Signaling otherwise is reckless and will make the situation worse,” Mr. McCarthy said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.