House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) on Wednesday again rejected a deal that would fund Biden's continued border operations along with tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson shot down the deal drafted by Senate negotiators on Saturday, tweeting that it would “absolutely not happen” after details of the deal were revealed.
“We're not playing politics with this,” Johnson said at a press conference on Wednesday. “We want real, transformative policy change because that’s what the American people need and deserve, and because they want it as well.”
Absolutely not. pic.twitter.com/tkXma24r8M
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) January 13, 2024
Johnson's comments came hours before he met with President Joe Biden and other Congressional leaders at the White House to discuss a supplemental funding deal. Senate negotiators have spent months crafting a border compromise that would pass convening and allow continued foreign aid.
He is advocating for HR2, a comprehensive border security measure that would restore many of President Donald Trump's policies that caused an unprecedented immigration crisis and that Biden ended.
Law enforcement encountered more than 300,000 migrants in December, a new record.
Migrants cross the Rio Grande into the United States through Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, on January 2, 2024 (Helica Martinez/AFP)
Johnson is the only member of Congressional leadership to be skeptical about the White House's strategy to combine the two issues. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are working with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and President Biden. and found the right pressure points to force Prime Minister Boris Johnson to act. .
Before the White House meeting, Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared unfazed, insisting that HR2 must be the starting point for negotiations.
“House Republicans are on that line,” he said. “I'm telling the President that today. I've said that from the moment I was handed this gavel, and I continue to say that.”
Today, I'm telling President Biden directly: House Republicans are demanding transformative policy changes to secure our borders.
The American people deserve nothing less. pic.twitter.com/R5g80zlqFa
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) January 17, 2024
For decades, phrases like “comprehensive immigration reform” and “comprehensive border security” have been thrown around by proponents of open border legislation, but ultimately they have failed. Prime Minister Johnson has argued that the provisions in the House of Commons bill are designed to work together to solve problems, and that removing one or more key provisions would make the bill ineffective in stemming the tide, and he has not allowed similar legislation. He ignored calls for the initiative to be promoted again. of immigrants.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pose for a photo at the U.S. Capitol on July 27, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“I don't care what you call it,” Johnson told reporters. “We're saying these factors are important to bring about the changes we need. No one should play politics with this. There's too much at stake.”
Approval of Biden's handling of the border issue is a delicate situation, with independents and Democrats rejecting his failure to address the issue. Democratic officials across the country implored Mr. Biden to take steps to address the unprecedented number of unhoused immigrants flooding into cities.
Skeptics of Biden's border deal argue that Biden's cynical election-year priority is to “conceal and contain” migrants, removing them from the streets and possibly reducing the crime that accompanies their arrival. They argue that the temporary reduction will only temporarily alleviate the problem.
WATCH — Chicago City Councilman: 'I'm a Democrat,' but Biden will 'keep the borders open' and immigration surge is driving crime:
Johnson explained why it's important for Republicans to leverage their influence to provide real solutions that can last beyond the election year.
“Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49,” he said.
Human trafficking is a scourge. Border cartels make billions of dollars from human trafficking into the U.S. Currently, 60 to 70 percent of the people who cross Eagle Pass, the main barrier, are single adult men between the ages of 18 and 40.
These are not families flocking to seek refuge or asylum. People who probably came here with the wrong plans.
The whole purpose of today's White House meeting is to get Mike Johnson to cave in and support billions in Ukrainian funds and a border deal that no one saw coming. https://t.co/CYAauZboco
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 17, 2024
Johnson also called for “accountability for funding,” echoing the sentiments of Americans who want the Biden administration to show a path to victory before funding the Ukraine war, which has been stalled for a year.
“We need to know that Ukraine is not going to become another Afghanistan. I can see that many Americans are seriously questioning why that is.” [American aid] If you don't have a good answer, you will continue. So I'm going to promote them. ” Johnson continued. “But before we talk about Ukraine, I'll tell the president what I've been telling you and what I've been telling the American people: Borders, borders, borders. We have to protect our own homes. We have to secure our borders before we talk about doing anything else.”
Bradley Jay is Breitbart News' Capitol Hill correspondent. Follow him on X/Twitter. @BradleyAJay.
