Rep. Scholten Calls for Executive Action on the Border Amid House Republican Inaction

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Hillary Scholten (MI-03) joined her House Democratic colleagues in calling on President Biden to take executive action to restore order at the southern border. The call comes after Republicans blocked the bipartisan Senate border package and talks to secure the southern border have stalled.

“The crisis at our southern border has been decades in the making, and Republicans have had every opportunity to come to the table and find bipartisan solutions to fix it. Instead, they’ve killed the bipartisan border deal and chosen political games over keeping our country safe,” said Rep. Scholten. “Now, Democrats are being called to lead from the minority. This crisis is ultimately Congress’ job to fix, but we’re calling on President Biden to take every possible step within his power to help protect our communities.”

Rep. Scholten is a leader on immigration issues in Congress having worked on immigration issues for more than 20 years both on the enforcement and community aid side of the crisis.

After reports exposed widespread child labor violations involving migrant children, Rep. Scholten launched the Child Labor Prevention Task Force in Congress. She successfully pushed the White House to form an interagency task force to combat the exploitation of migrant children. She also introduced bipartisan legislation to reduce the immigration court backlog and strengthen due process rights for unaccompanied migrant children.

Rep. Scholten is an original cosponsor of the bipartisan Dignity Act and has consistently called for increased resources and support to address the crisis at the border. Just recently, she visited the southern border along with several of her House colleagues to hear from local leaders and U.S. Border Patrol officials about what needs to be done to address the immigration crisis.

“It is well past time for both parties to come together and agree on common sense, bipartisan immigration reforms,” wrote Rep. Scholten and her colleagues. “It has become clear that the current situation remains untenable, but with Republicans playing politics on border security, it is time for your Administration to act.”

The full text of the letter can be found here and below:

Dear President Biden:

We write to you to respectfully request that you and your administration immediately take further action to restore order at the Southern border and fix our broken immigration system.

We appreciate your good faith efforts on the bipartisan border agreement in the Senate. As such, this Congress had an opportunity to work together on a bipartisan basis to secure the border but House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to bring that bill to us for debate because our House colleagues would rather see the crisis continue and use it as a campaign ad instead of actually addressing this national security issue. It is well past time for both parties to come together and agree on common-sense, bipartisan immigration reforms that both strengthen enforcement at the border and provide a path to citizenship for those who have been living, working, and paying taxes in the United States for many years. All of our constituents, no matter our congressional district, have felt the impacts of the current border situation. Communities across the country are grappling with the fentanyl crisis and struggling to find appropriate shelter and services for those seeking asylum.

Democrats have repeatedly stood ready to support funding for increased border patrol personnel and fentanyl scanning technology, as well as immigration judges and asylum officers to allow for orderly processing at ports of entry. We were proud to support $19.6 billion for Customs and Border Protection in the recently passed Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 government funding package– including $75.5 million to acquire additional non- intrusive inspection detection systems and $20 million for an additional 150 CBP Officers to support counter fentanyl efforts. We recognize that ultimately fixing our broken immigration system is complex and requires Congress to act, but while Republicans continue to refuse to come to the table and intentionally destroy bipartisan solutions, we still must act to protect our country.

It has become clear that the current situation remains untenable, but with Republicans playing politics on border security, it is time for your administration to act. We urge you to use all tools at your disposal, including executive action, to better address security at the Southern border, interdict illicit fentanyl and allow for orderly legal immigration. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,