Local lawmakers react to Biden’s new immigration policy

Earlier Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced new executive actions temporarily limiting the number of migrants crossing the southern U.S. border illegally, effective at midnight.

The action allows officials to remove migrants entering the border unlawfully without processing asylum requests.

The U.S. will start accepting migrants who are claiming asylum, but only within 14 days of encounters with 1,500 migrants or less between ports of entry, administration officials have stated.

Local Coachella Valley lawmakers have reacted to this new policy, including democrat Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz and Republican Congressman Ken Calvert.

“Irregular migration at our southern border has been rising for over a decade, with many migrants being unlikely to qualify for asylum. Our broken immigration system is overwhelmed, leading to unacceptable delays in processing asylum claims. The Republican House majority has rejected the President’s request for necessary resources to alleviate this backlog and has blocked bipartisan sustainable legislative solutions. While I understand the Administration's efforts, today’s Executive Order sadly only focuses only on enforcement. Congress should put people over politics and pass comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for dreamers and farm workers."

- Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz (CA-25)

“From the moment he was sworn into office, President Biden has made it his priority to open our border to the flood of illegal immigration and illicit drugs we have seen enter our country and our communities over the past three years. Now that we are months away from an election, the President is acting out of desperation to mislead the American people. The executive actions announced today fails to deal with the millions of individuals who have illegally entered our country or address disastrous policies, like catch-and-release. If President Biden was serious about securing our border, he would immediately reinstate the remain-in-Mexico policy, complete the construction of the border wall, and end sanctuary policies that do nothing but protect illegal immigrants who have been convicted of violent crimes.”

- Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-41)