WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) led a group of 11 Senators demanding Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas immediately release the DHS blueprint for the Biden Administration’s immigration policies. The blueprint details plans to expand and overhaul the legal immigration system and has been released to the New York Times, but not to Congress or the American people. Joining the letter are Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Rick Scott (R-FL), Steve Daines (R-MT), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Susan Collins (R-ME), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND).
“It is disturbing that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would keep this kind of information hidden from Congress and the public, yet share it with the media,” wrote the Senators. “These proposals have the potential to compromise the integrity of our immigration vetting system at the expense of national security and public safety. The fact this is being withheld from Congress and the American people is particularly troubling given the ongoing crisis at the southern border. The policies allegedly proposed in this document would double down on erasing successful policies during the Trump Administration that secured the border and restored the rule of law. We are deeply concerned that these policies will act as a pull factor to continue drawing illegal immigrants to the country – much like the policies already being implemented by the Biden Administration.”
The Senators continued, “In addition, the policies allegedly proposed in this document would open up new ways for immigrants to enter the country legally that extend well beyond the plain text and meaning of the law. While there are many rational suggestions for reform in this document, these are decisions that must be made by Congress, and Congress alone, and not by the stroke of the President’s pen. A decision with such serious public safety consequences should be open and accessible, but instead, DHS has kept this information from everyone except a media ally.”
Read the full letter here.
“It is disturbing that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would keep this kind of information hidden from Congress and the public, yet share it with the media,” wrote the Senators. “These proposals have the potential to compromise the integrity of our immigration vetting system at the expense of national security and public safety. The fact this is being withheld from Congress and the American people is particularly troubling given the ongoing crisis at the southern border. The policies allegedly proposed in this document would double down on erasing successful policies during the Trump Administration that secured the border and restored the rule of law. We are deeply concerned that these policies will act as a pull factor to continue drawing illegal immigrants to the country – much like the policies already being implemented by the Biden Administration.”
The Senators continued, “In addition, the policies allegedly proposed in this document would open up new ways for immigrants to enter the country legally that extend well beyond the plain text and meaning of the law. While there are many rational suggestions for reform in this document, these are decisions that must be made by Congress, and Congress alone, and not by the stroke of the President’s pen. A decision with such serious public safety consequences should be open and accessible, but instead, DHS has kept this information from everyone except a media ally.”
Read the full letter here.
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