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Two House Republicans demand documents related to report that President Joe Biden’s transition team has been warned by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials of the possible consequences of reversing the immigration policies of his predecessors .
In a letter sent Tuesday to DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, first shared with Newsweek, Representatives Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) Accused the new administration of refusing “to accept responsibility for the growing humanitarian and security crisis.”
“This refusal to accept responsibility is surprising in light of a report suggesting that the Biden administration has been warned that reversing President Trump’s successful immigration policies would lead to a push at the border,” they said. written. “We are writing to request documentation relating to these warnings.”
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
The referenced report, released by NPR on March 23, featured former acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf saying career agency officials were pointing out that there would be problems on the US-Mexico border if the new administration was removing immigration policies such as “Stay in Mexico” and other asylum measures. The concerns were reportedly raised during several briefings the department held with Biden’s transition team.
Wolf conceded to the news organization that the number of migrants arriving at the border was likely to increase despite Biden, but claimed the new president’s policies only added to the challenge.
Jordan and McClintock echoed this view in their letter on Tuesday, writing that “the reversal of President Trump’s successful immigration policies has created a tremendous incentive for illegal aliens to come to the border. South. President Biden and his administration are responsible for the resulting border crisis. “
The two Republicans called for all documents and communications exchanged by the agency and Biden’s transition team on immigration policy between October 1, 2020 and today in order to better “understand the warnings given by officials of the DHS to Biden’s Transition Team ”.
Biden began rolling back many sweeping immigration policies put in place by Trump’s team shortly after taking office in 2021. The president signed executive orders to curb deportations, freeze construction of border walls and reunite families separated by Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy. in 2018.
Mayorkas defended the administration’s approach to immigration and blamed the Trump administration, which he said had dismantled the system in the past four years.
Seasonal migrant surges have been the norm for years, as reported Washington To post Last week. But Republican lawmakers have jumped on the recent wave of criticism of Biden, saying his policy changes have led to the current situation. The GOP and Democratic lawmakers have also expressed concerns over the conditions under which unaccompanied migrant minors are being held amid reports that facilities are overcrowded amid the outbreak.
When asked at his first solo press conference last week if he acted too quickly to reverse some of Trump’s immigration policies, Biden claimed that the current measures “are not helping the government. everything “and argued that the increase in migrant arrivals under his administration was not unprecedented. .
“I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president and which have an incredibly negative impact on law, international law, as well as human dignity,” he said. Biden said.
Newsweek contacted the White House for comment on Jordan and McClintock’s letter, but did not receive a response until publication. DHS said Newsweek he replies to Congress correspondence through official channels.
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