(USNewsMag.com) – On Jan. 22, House Speaker and Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson responded to Vice President Kamala Harris’ claims about the crisis at the southern border.
During a CNN interview on Jan. 21, Harris stated that Republicans were “playing politics” regarding the border crisis. She urged lawmakers negotiating a border security deal to focus on “solutions,” including “meaningful” ways for asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants to have a pathway to becoming citizens. She added that resources needed to be put toward helping “process people effectively.” She said that when the Biden administration took office, a bill was sent to Congress to provide pathways to citizenship, and she accused Republicans of not supporting the proposed legislation.
Harris was tasked early on in the Biden administration with finding a long-term solution to the border crisis, including the root cause of mass migration from Central America. However, she has not been involved in negotiations as lawmakers attempt to find a bipartisan compromise, and during the interview, she declined to discuss the ongoing negotiations.
Johnson responded to Harris’ comments by saying she “has had three years to secure the border and come up with solutions. He said her solutions are “that Congress grant mass amnesty,” adding that she wants to spend more “taxpayer dollars” for processing, not stopping “more illegals.”
Johnson said her solutions show why the Biden administration is incapable of solving “the catastrophe they, themselves, created,” as their solutions would “attract millions more aliens.”
As the discussion about border security continues, Johnson and House Republicans continue to advocate for policies similar to H.R. 2, which the House passed in May. H.R. 2 included severe restrictions on asylum and would restart policies put in place under the Trump administration, such as the construction of the border wall and Remain in Mexico. However, the Democrats have called the bill a “nonstarter.” The discussions come as the number of encounters at the border surpassed a record high of 300,000 in December.
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