Austin News

June 24, 2024

HOUSTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and James Lankford (R-OK) have sent a letter urging President Biden to rescind his executive action that would offer amnesty to illegal migrants who are unlawfully present in the United States.

They wrote: “We have previously challenged the legality of your Administration’s parole authority and have sought to reform this authority to ensure that decisions regarding parole are restored to Congress’ original intent – ‘on a case-by-case basis’ to aliens who are not already present in the US. Under your Administration, the parole authority has been unlawfully used to circumvent screening and vetting, mass parole of illegal aliens after the cartels surge caravans at the border, and to circumvent normal refugee processing. These actions undermine the immigration laws Congress has passed, and they have eroded the rule of law at our southern border.”

“Border security is national security, and our adversaries will continue to take advantage of the chaos your Administration created by announcing this policy. We urge you to rescind this policy immediately and focus your efforts on securing our border against the cartels and adversaries who will welcome this chaos.”

Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Thune (R-SD), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ted Budd (R-NC), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), John Kennedy (R-LA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Hoeven (R-ND), Jim Risch (R-ID), and Mike Crapo (R-ID) also signed the letter.

The full text of this letter is here and below:

June 21, 2024

Dear President Biden:

We write today to express our grave concerns regarding your proposal to offer amnesty to illegal aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States. This action directly contravenes the laws Congress has passed, and it will throw fuel on the fire of the ongoing border crisis.

We have previously challenged the legality of your Administration’s parole authority and have sought to reform this authority to ensure that decisions regarding parole are restored to Congress’ original intent—“on a case-by-case basis” to aliens who are not already present in the US. Under your Administration, the parole authority has been unlawfully used to circumvent screening and vetting, mass parole of illegal aliens after the cartels surge caravans at the border, and to circumvent normal refugee processing. These actions undermine the immigration laws Congress has passed, and they have eroded the rule of law at our southern border.

Parole was never intended as a mass amnesty. Your actions fly in the face of a clear reading of the law. Due to reckless policies, your Administration has encountered more illegal aliens at the southern border than both Obama administration and Trump administration combined. DHS recently promulgated regulations that appear to tighten up border control but implementing policy guidance from DHS website data since implementation show what all Americans know—the border remains wide open.

Since day one of your Administration, you have rolled back measures that would have secured our border, including Remain in Mexico program, asylum cooperative agreements, and ICE enforcement priorities preventing deportation for most illegal immigrants. These actions among others have invited chaos at both borders as well as communities across country.

Numerous inspector general reports along with Government Accountability Office reports along with news reports shown DHS overwhelmed by crisis unable properly vet immigrants crossing borders CBP encountered nearly 180000 April alone which would've been record if not previous records set earlier fiscal year

ICE just arrested eight known ISIS-K affiliates; further arrests expected per news sources indicating failure due volume overwhelming capacity effectively screen custody detainees

This week’s executive order doubles down sending message globally America non-enforcement law Southern Border leading continuing exploitation vulnerability threatening national security urging immediate rescindment focusing efforts secure against cartel infiltration plus adversarial exploitation welcoming resultant disorder sincerely /s/