Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar on Saturday pleaded with President Biden to end the “catch and release” cycle that brings millions of illegal immigrants to the United States, echoing complaints from his Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives.
“You have to have repercussions at the border,” the 10-term congressman from the district that includes Laredo, Texas, told Fox News.
“The asylum law, the criteria for allowing people to enter, can be adjusted,” Cuellar said, adding that existing law can be used to deport those who violate entry rules.
“If in a year you find millions of individuals and then you let in hundreds and hundreds of thousands of them, that becomes the pull factor,” Cuellar said. “That catch and release… is the pull factor.”
A record 276,000 asylum seekers entered the United States from Mexico in December, capping an unprecedented year and forcing Biden to admit on Friday that “massive changes” to immigration policy are necessary.
The administration’s current policy allows nearly all immigrants who cross the border illegally to enter the United States and remain here for years until the backlogged asylum system can consider their case.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, called for greater “repercussions” against illegal immigrants to end the border crisis. FOX News members of Congress toured an area of the US-Mexico border that had been fortified with concertina wire this month. AP The Texas National Guard added barriers on the banks of the Rio Grande this week to deter the entry of migrants near Eagle Pass, Texas. REUTERS
Republicans want Biden to clamp down on the mass influx of migrants by restoring former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy for asylum seekers and quickly deporting those who enter the United States illegally.
“Why do we allow hundreds of thousands of them in when, at the end of the day, most of them are going to be turned away?” asked Cuellar, who in 2022 urged Biden to step up deportations of illegal immigrants.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn