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House Republicans have renewed their call for Democrats to hold a formal hearing on the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border — while accusing the Biden administration of sounding an “open-borders rally cry,” a report said Monday.
In a letter obtained by Fox News, Rep. Tom McClintock, the ranking Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, repeated a request already made earlier this month to the subcommittee’s chair, Rep. Zoe Lofgren.
“Last week, Republicans on the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship wrote to you requesting that you schedule a hearing to examine the Biden Administration’s crisis on the southern U.S. border stemming from the sharp increase of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) arriving at the border,” wrote McClintock (R-Calif.) to Lofgren (D-Calif.) in a letter dated March 12.
“As I await your response, the Biden border crisis is becoming increasingly worse,” continued McClintock. “The Subcommittee must immediately address this crisis.”
Tens of thousands of Central American migrants — including unaccompanied children — have rushed the crossing since President Biden was inaugurated and began softening the immigration policies of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
But even as border town residents have voiced concerns about the migrants bringing with them COVID-19, and unaccompanied children have spent days confined to cramped, jail-like conditions in detainment centers, the Biden administration has refused to characterize the situation as a crisis.
Roberta Jacobson, the White House coordinator for the southern border, conceded last week that mixed messaging by the Biden administration may be fueling the surge.
But, while speaking in Spanish, she also made a troubling translation gaffe that could spur even more migration, McClintock noted.
“As if the Biden immigration policies were not enough of an open-borders rallying cry, Wednesday during a White House press briefing President Biden’s Coordinator for the Southern Border shockingly stated in Spanish ‘la frontera no está cerrada,’ which translates to ‘the border is not closed,’” McClintock noted.
“Even if, as suggested, that statement was an innocent mistake while using the Spanish language, there is no doubt that the Mexican cartels who want to continue to get rich by smuggling migrants across the border will play and replay that clip to entice more business,” he continued.
The Democrat-controlled House will take up two immigration-related bills this week, as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Monday leads a delegation of fellow GOP lawmakers on a review of the border.
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