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AOC and Ilhan Omar condemn Joe Biden's border 'betrayal' executive order and insist it should be easier for migrants to get asylum
Progressive squad members are not happy that Joe Biden is taking a page out of Donald Trump's playbook in his executive order addressing the illegal immigration crisis.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called the order a 'betrayal' of American ideals and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) lamented that the action did not include making it easier for migrants to more easily and quickly obtain documented status.
On Tuesday, Biden announced after three-and-a-half-years of pressure from Republicans executive action that limits the number of migrants who can arrive at the border and claim asylum once it exceeds 2,500 crossings per day.
The authority the president is using to enact the order is the same used by former President Trump when he was putting bans on those who could cross into the U.S. via the southern border to quell the surge of illegal immigration.
Rep. Omar appears most furious, claiming that the executive order is 'cruel' in a statement put out on Tuesday.
Rep. AOC says President Joe Biden's executive order on immigration should have focused on making it easier for migrants to obtain asylum or documented status instead of limiting the number of those who can cross the border
Rep. Ilhan Omar (right) called the order 'cruel' and claimed President Biden is 'betraying' American ideals by limiting border crossing of asylum seekers to 2,500 per day
Speaking after the order was announced, the Democratic congresswoman said: 'I share your heartbreak and betrayal. You know I love this country, as many immigrants who do get the opportunity to come to this country do. The United States has been a beacon of hope for those fleeing persecution, violence and oppression.'
'Today's executive order undermines that legacy,' she accused. 'Not only is this order a betrayal of the principle upon which this nation was built, it flies in the face of basic morality.'
'If the Biden administration is serious about addressing the border crisis, the way to do that is to create more and quicker legal pathways – not to put asylum laws to the side. We have to remember that the victims of this policy will be the innocent.'
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, however, seemed to have more understanding for why the president acted unilaterally to address the crisis – claiming that concerns from the right regarding illegal immigration are resonating with a lot of Americans.
Asked outside the Capitol on Tuesday if Biden made a mistake, AOC said: 'I mean, I don't think it's really about a mistake or a non mistake. I think it's about policy, right?'
'And if we want to solve the problem and issues of people not being able to enter the United States in a documented and orderly fashion, what we need to do is making a documented entrance into the United States possible – and more possible than it presently is. And so that to me should remain our priority.'
Rep. Jayapal also is critical of the action, claiming it is a 'mistake' for Biden to take this action and saying Republicans are to blame for blocking Congress from passing legislation on the matter.
But the GOP says the agreements in Congress would satisfy more progressive wings of the Democratic Party when it comes to immigration and do nothing to address the crisis.
'I think what the president is trying to do is address the fact that we all want order at the border,' Jayapal said. 'We all want to see an immigration system that is orderly, that allows people to be processed quickly, that allows people to come in with different legal pathways, and Republicans have continued to block us in doing that.'
Rep. Pramila Jayapal said Biden is taking a page out of former President Donald Trump's playbook by using authority that limits illegal immigration
'But enforcement-only actions like what the president is doing today, which mirrors something that Donald Trump did, it was stopped by the courts, but using 212(f) of the INA, of the Immigration Nationality Act, is a harsh enforcement-only measure that is not going to work because people are not going to stop coming when they are fleeing terrible circumstances.'
Pressed Tuesday on what it means to see the Democratic president move to the right on immigration after taking dozens of moves to loosen up restrictions at the border, AOC acknowledged the huge focus many voters are putting on this issue ahead of November's election.
'I think it shows that there's concern and the concerns that the right is raising on the border are resonate in a lot of electorates,' she said. 'But our responsibility is to develop solutions that work.'
'And, listen, it's not just on the president, it's also on Congress,' AOC added. 'And this speaks to Congress' failure in both parties to actually pass immigration reform that expands a path towards citizenship.'