Count New Jerseys two U.S. senators among the critics of President Joe Bidens new immigration policy.
They joined fellow Democratic senators Alex Padilla of California and Ben Ray Lujn of New Mexico in opposing Bidens decision to use a public health immigration policy known as Title 42, invoked by then-President Donald Trump during the coronavirus pandemic, to make it easier to expel immigrants entering the U.S. without authorization.
The new policy, though, would expand the number of immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela eligible to enter the U.S.
Continuing to use this failed and inhumane Trump-era policy put in place to address a public health crisis will do nothing to restore the rule of law at the border, the senators said in a statement. Instead, it will increase border crossings over time and further enrich human smuggling networks.
The senators also said that Bidens actions would disregard our obligations under international law by banning families from seeking asylum at the border, likely separating families and stranding migrants fleeing persecution and torture in countries unable to protect them.
The advocacy group Make the Road New Jersey also had harsh words for Bidens actions
The Biden administrations decision to expand enforcement and Title 42 today further guts asylum and does nothing to keep anyone safe, Erika Martinez said. Instead, the Biden administration criminalizes immigrant communities and puts people fleeing violence into harms way. We welcome the new parole programs for Cubans, Nicaraguan and Venezuelans, but this is nowhere near enough. Get politics news like this right to your inbox with the N.J. Politics newsletter. Add your email below and hit “subscribe”
Biden acted in advance of his visit Sunday to the southern border, his first trip there since becoming president, as a record number of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. have been taken into custody during his presidency.
The president proposed a comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws on his first day in office and asked Menendez, the son of Cuban immigrants, to come up with legislation.
But Menendez has said that Senate Republicans who once were willing to work with him on immigration bills backed away because of Trump, who began his campaign by saying Mexican immigrants were bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists.
Trump later used U.S. taxpayer money to start building a border wall he promised Mexico would pay for, and even shut down the government for a record 35 days the longest in history after a Republican-controlled Congress refused to fund it.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at the White House press briefing Friday that Biden was attempting to strike a balance between allowing safe and legal immigration and discouraging illegal immigration.
This is a president who understands that safe and legal immigration into this country is a key cornerstone of our own security and prosperity, and that he is advancing ways to improve those legal pathways to entry, Kirby said. And we also, obviously, have to make sure that its legal migration were focused on and that the illegal migration is curbed as best as we can through more stringent enforcement mechanisms.
And White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said these were only interim steps until Congress passes comprehensive legislation to address the issue once and all.
We will continue to call on Congress to act, Jean-Pierre said. The president inherited a mess because of what the last administration did. We inherited a mess. And, you know, Republicans in Congress made it worse by blocking comprehensive immigration reform. And so what youre seeing from this president is hes acting to continue to protect the border, secure the border, and also deal with irregular migration. That is what hes going to continue to do.
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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @JDSalant.