Exclusive: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has accused the White House of trying to blame the immigration crisis on House Republicans.
Johnson's office on Tuesday morning compiled a new memo detailing 64 actions and illegal immigration milestones taken by the Biden administration that Republicans say have worsened the border situation since Biden took office. . Many of the points mentioned also relate to reforms Republicans are seeking from the White House in the ongoing border negotiations, which appear to have slowed so far this week.
“Since his first day in office, President Biden and his administration have been working to systematically undermine America's border security,” Johnson told Fox News Digital.
“More than 60 times, he has manipulated the federal bureaucracy to open our borders to illegal immigration, human trafficking, fentanyl, and potential terrorists. The result is a humanitarian and national security disaster. ”
Former Department of Homeland Security officials back Johnson's aggressive stance on the border in funding fight, say Republicans need 'clear commitment'
House Speaker Mike Johnson is hitting back at the White House amid a standoff over border policy. (Getty Images)
He called on Biden to take unilateral action on border security, a request Johnson first made in a letter to the president in late December.
“The president must use his executive powers to repair what he has broken, and I am asking him to do that,” Johnson said.
His memo took issue with Biden's rollback of key Trump administration policies, including the Remain in Mexico policy pushed by House Republicans amid border talks between the Senate and the White House.
Among the actions Johnson's memo highlighted were Biden lifting a national emergency at the border on his first day in office and ordering a halt to construction on the Trump administration's border wall.
Johnson talks about meeting with Biden on border crisis
He also accused Biden of raising barriers for investigators seeking to take enforcement actions and said his administration would expand the use of catch-and-release, which allows undocumented immigrants to wait in the U.S. He pointed out that he was doing so.
Johnson argued that the Biden administration's expansion of parole powers and government assistance programs for undocumented immigrants have similarly fueled the historic increase in border encounters.
Immigrants are flooding into Eagle Pass, Texas, awaiting processing on December 18, 2023. (Fox News)
The document also included data on monthly border encounters involving unaccompanied children and the amount of fentanyl seized at the border.
This comes after White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates last week accused House Republicans of worsening the border crisis by withholding approval of the president's funding request.
But as Republicans continue to argue that the funding increases are meaningless without policy changes, Tuesday's memo cited examples where Johnson suggested Biden administration policies made the crisis worse.
Republican lawmakers are seeking these policy changes in ongoing discussions with the White House. Republican leaders have vowed that without these changes, they will not approve funding for Ukraine or other parts of Democrats' $110 billion request for additional funding.
Migration negotiations between the U.S. and Mexico also included the benefit of “controlling” illegal immigrants living in the U.S.
Some hardliners in the House Republican conference have gone further, insisting that all government funding be withheld unless changes are made.
And while those talks are taking place in the Senate, House Republicans have signaled they are likely to push for more conservative reforms than what they would get.
Mr. Johnson himself indicated he would not support anything other than HR2, the House Republican border bill that would restore many of the Trump administration's policies that Tuesday's memo criticized Mr. Biden for rolling back.
Senate Democrats and the White House argued that the bill was not a starter.
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But as border communities and large cities across the country struggle with the surge of asylum seekers in the United States, even the left acknowledges that something has to change.
Although final numbers have not been released, early reports indicate that more than 300,000 migrants are on pace to be encountered at the southern border in December, the highest monthly total ever. .
Fox News Digital contacted the White House about Johnson's new memo, but did not immediately receive a response.
