A group of Republican Senators wants the Biden administration to release more details on its reported plan to make immigration to the U.S. faster and easier.
How we got here: The New York Times reported earlier this month that the Biden administration has considered reforming the immigration system in a way that goes beyond undoing former President Trump’s policies on immigration.
The report blamed the former administration for certain immigration-related issues, including an increase in backlog in citizenship applications and employer-sponsored green cards, among other things, and said that the current administration plans to resolve them, based on a blueprint the Times obtained titled “D.H.S. Plan to Restore Trust in Our Legal Immigration System.”
The blueprint reportedly features a trove of initiatives that would “reopen the country to more immigrants,” according to the Times, and “rebuild and expand the opportunities for foreigners to enter the United States” in a legal manner.
It would make it earlier for “high-skilled workers, trafficking victims, the families of Americans living abroad, American Indians born in Canada, refugees, asylum-seekers and farm workers” to enter the U.S., reduce the cost of application, and other measures that would “reduce barriers” to immigration.
The response: A group of 12 GOP lawmakers in the Senate, led by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, asking him to release the reported blueprint by July 15.
The Senators who signed the letter include Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Steve Daines (R-MT), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), according to the press release.
“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,” the Senators wrote. “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.”
“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,” they continued. “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.”
