Senate Republicans Advocate for Border Crisis Solutions

Senate Republicans unveiled a plan Monday to fix the “failed policies” of the Biden administration regarding the crisis at the U.S. southern border, where an estimated 8 million people have crossed illegally under President Joe Biden.

The Senate Republican Working Group Solutions for the Southern Border, which includes Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and James Lankford of Oklahoma, released a proposal based largely on the Secure the Border Act of 2023 that the House passed 219-213 in May but has languished in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

“We must make policy changes to reduce the flow of immigration,” Graham said in a news release obtained by Newsmax. “The world is on fire and threats to our homeland are at an all-time high. President Biden’s border policies are not working and it’s time to change course. Our proposal makes the necessary changes that our country needs at this critical time.”

The group’s proposal focuses on three main categories: Preventing illegal immigrants from crossing the border, asylum parole and humanitarian parole reform. Many of the proposals reflect policies instituted during the Trump administration, including the building of a border wall, requiring migrants traveling through a country to first seek asylum there, and the return of migrants to a contiguous country during their immigration proceedings if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can’t detain or remove them to a safe third country.

It also calls to incentivize the retention of Border Patrol agents and improve recruiting and training programs and seeks to make migrants ineligible for asylum if they have committed felonies or other serious crimes, “including, gang-related crimes, DUI, child abuse, domestic violence, certain controlled substance offenses, and extreme cruelty or battery.”

Humanitarian parole is granted to a foreign national — who is otherwise unable to enter the U.S. — to temporarily enter because of an emergency and urgent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit. The group seeks to prohibit DHS from using broad class-based criteria to grant humanitarian parole and to codify two existing parole programs: the Cuban Family Reunification Program, and another for the spouse and children of active-duty military service members. It also narrows the scope of the parole statute to clarify that parole is to be used rarely.

“President Biden’s immigration policies have put American workers last and exposed our communities to crime and terrorism,” Cotton said in the news release. “This border package will cut off the flow of illegal migration, prioritize legitimate claims to entry, and restore order.”