Top Republicans in the House of Representatives are criticizing President Biden’s new executive order that is expected to protect up to 500,000 illegal immigrants from deportation.
“President Biden’s last-minute mass amnesty move in an election year is not surprising, but it serves as an important warning to doubters: this administration has never been serious about securing the border,” House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) told Fox News Digital.
“By allowing inadmissible aliens to remain in the country indefinitely through the ploy of ‘parole’ and receive generous taxpayer benefits, this president is sending a clear message to all who seek to cross the border that not only are the doors wide open, but a welcoming rug is laid out for them.”
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Rep. Richard Hudson (left) and Rep. Mark Green (right) led the criticism of President Biden’s recent executive order regarding illegal immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens. (Getty Images)
Biden unveiled a plan on Tuesday aimed at paving the way for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to gain permanent residency if they have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years and meet legal requirements.
According to the administration, the order will protect 500,000 spouses of undocumented immigrants, as well as 50,000 foreign nationals under the age of 21 whose parents are married to U.S. citizens.
But Republicans like Greene dismissed it as a cynical attempt to garner support from Hispanic and Latino voters ahead of the November election.
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“Joe Biden is a failed president who caved to the radical left who pushed for an open border in the first place. The American people are begging for stronger border security, but the Administration’s misguided mass amnesty plan will only encourage more illegal immigration,” Republican National Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson (R-Ill.) told Fox News Digital.
“In the same month, the president pretended to close the border with a meaningless executive order, and now he’s issued a mass amnesty to half a million illegal immigrants. This is the height of political pandering in an election year,” said Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), a member of the Homeland Security Committee.
Rep. August Plueger (R-Texas) called it “political pandering.” (Getty Images/File)
President Biden’s executive order was praised by House Democrats.
“President Biden’s actions will keep American families together,” Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., said on X. “Up to 120,000 foreign spouses could be granted relief in California and many DACA recipients and Dreamers will be given the opportunity to continue pursuing the American Dream.”
“President Biden’s executive order is the most significant, positive policy change for immigrants and their families since the DACA program in 2012,” Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) wrote on X.
The amnesty order comes after President Biden issued new directives this month that severely limit asylum claims at the southern border.
FBI Director Wray warned about the terrorism threat posed by open borders just days before the arrests of eight ISIS suspects across the US.
Democratic lawmakers, including Nanette Barragan, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, welcomed the order. (Getty Images)
But the president’s Republican critics have dismissed the effort as too little, too late, with major cities far from the border now suffering the effects of the migrant crisis.
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“Just two weeks ago, the President staged an election-year border farce and pretended to crack down on the disaster of open borders. Now he is trying to have it both ways and grant amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “The President may think of our homeland security as a game he can play to score political points, but the American people know that this amnesty plan will only encourage illegal immigration and put the American people at risk.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
