During a White House briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the border crisis, defending President Biden’s approach and offering shocking reasons for why he has not acted.
Jean-Pierre began the press conference by saying it was up to Republicans to do something to resolve the issue or continue to politicize it.
When asked why the president is not doing anything since he has the power to act unilaterally on this issue, Jean-Pierre said:
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“Why should he do it unilaterally? Why not do it in a legislative way?” Jean-Pierre replied.
Since taking the oath of office in January 2021, Biden has taken 94 executive actions to reverse President Trump’s border policies.
President Biden has hinted at the possibility of an executive order to close the border. (Getty Images)
Jean-Pierre continues to defend himself, saying that while President Biden has taken many executive actions so far, a legislative approach is needed to address what’s happening at the border and our broken immigration system. he claimed.
“We need a bill, we need it to pass on a bipartisan basis. And it was negotiated. It was negotiated. There was an agreement in the Senate. Republicans and Democrats came together. You think the bill is broken, it’s divided. More specifically, they voted for the bill and it passed, so that’s important,” Jean-Pierre said.
She added that over the past three and a half years, the Biden administration has been able to move a lot of legislation forward in a bipartisan manner.
“The President has made his position clear and believes America is a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. We can expand the avenues for legal immigration and ensure America remains a beacon of hope and opportunity,” Jean-Pierre said in a post on X.
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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre with President Joe Biden. (Getty Images)
Jean-Pierre’s post received significant backlash, with many calling on the Biden administration to close the border.
“Biden betrayed America. There’s no debate,” one user commented.
“Joe Biden doesn’t need a bill to secure the border. He could use an executive order. He used an executive order to rescind President Trump’s order that secured the border. The current border bill allows 1.8 million people to enter the country illegally a year. This is as bad as it is now. Deport all illegal aliens and close the borders,” another user wrote. wrote.
“We are a nation of immigrants. We have immigration laws. Apparently this administration thinks letting anyone and everyone into the country is legal immigration. Please explain to me how these people are legal immigrants. They are illegals!” another user posted.
Jean-Pierre again dodged the question, saying it was up to Senate leadership to talk about the process and how to move forward.
“What I’m saying is it’s long past time to get this done and get this moving. We’ve been able to have a bipartisan negotiation, we’ve been able to move forward with a plan on issues that many Americans care about, issues that are important to our immigration system, what’s happening at the border, that’s a good thing,” Jean-Pierre said.
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Migrants cross the Rio Grande River at the U.S.-Mexico border in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Alejandro Segarra/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He added that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York wants to move this forward and is “very good about this.”
“He’s very good at handling big bills, as evidenced by his success in passing important legislation over the past three and a half years, so I’ll let him speak on that,” she concluded. .
In a letter to senators dated Sunday evening, Schumer announced his plans to bring back to the floor an immigration bill that was rejected primarily by Senate Republicans in February.
“We hope this bipartisan proposal will bring serious Republicans back to the negotiating table and move forward on a bipartisan solution to the border issue,” he wrote.
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As Republicans try to unite to block the effort, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has announced plans to reintroduce a Democratic-backed border bill. (Getty Images)
But Republicans in both houses of Congress are preparing to band together to block any possible passage of the Democratic-backed border bill.
Schumer explained that he doesn’t expect to get full support from either party, but the White House immediately backed Schumer’s plan, and Jean-Pierre said he expected “all senators to “We urge everyone to put aside partisan politics and vote to secure our borders.”
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The bill failed in a test vote in February by a vote of 49-50, falling short of the 60 votes needed to proceed.
Fox News’ Julia Johnson and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
