Republicans are ripping Biden’s plan to give citizenship to half a million illegal immigrants as a “lame” election move that actually encourages illegal crossings.
On Tuesday afternoon, Biden introduced a new policy that would offer about 500,000 undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens a path to citizenship if they have lived in the country for at least 10 years.
Biden suggested the election action took place this summer to prevent some of the deportations Trump has promised should he win in the fall.
But top GOP lawmakers told DailyMail.com exclusively that the plan will act as a magnet to push more people into the US illegally.
“Every time Biden does something like this, he invites more and more people to come here illegally,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told DailyMail.com exclusively.
President Joe Biden speaks Tuesday at an event marking the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals program in the East Room of the White House, where he announced the mass migrant amnesty for half a million spouses
“So this is all part of the catch and release incentives that the Biden administration is giving these illegal immigrants.”
“And today he granted amnesty for another half a million illegal immigrants. Democrats in the Senate vote again and again to allow this to pass.”
“You let the criminals, drug dealers, murderers and terrorists that we know today into the country, and they let 10 million illegal immigrants into the country.”
Another Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, also ripped the announcement as acting as a lure for potential migrants.
“This is a huge attraction and attraction,” he told DailyMail.com exclusively, adding that it is “encouraging more and more people to come.”
He said Democrats are “just helplessly confused about what border security means, and are actually undermining their own stated objective of trying to bring it under some control.”
“So I think it’s a big mistake,” Cornyn continued.
Republicans labeled the policy as a magnet for illegal migrants to flow into the US
Under Biden, an estimated ten million migrants have entered the US illegally
Last week, Biden announced an executive order that would restrict some migrants from seeking asylum. Republicans say his actions Tuesday directly contradict his order last week
Both Republicans cited Biden’s recent executive order aimed at stemming the flow of illegal crossings by disallowing asylum cases for migrants crossing the border illegally.
They said the order came “too little, too late” and that the massive spousal asylum program contradicts Biden’s action last week.
“I find it amazing that President Biden says that after 94 executive orders dismantling all the border security measures that President Trump put in place, he issued his 95th saying he was finally getting tough on border security,” Cornyn noted .
“A few days later he turns around and says 500,000 people who entered the country illegally can stay and move toward citizenship.”
Democrats, meanwhile, celebrated the president’s plan as a victory.
“Today, Biden is announcing the most important relief for immigrants since DACA: protections for spouses of undocumented citizens. To make them eligible for a work permit. To keep families together. To affirm American values – a land of opportunity for those who want to contribute,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DY, wrote on X.
Rep. Sarah Jacobs, D-California, similarly posted Tuesday afternoon: “This is the BIGGEST immigration victory since DACA, allowing undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to breathe easier and stay in the U.S. legally.”
“This is a major victory for humane immigration reform and keeping families together.”
At the White House on Tuesday, Biden celebrated the policy and ripped into former President Donald Trump.
Biden took a shot at former President Donald Trump when he announced the amnesty policy
President Joe Biden said he wasn’t “playing politics” with the border before ripping Trump
“When he was president, he separated families and children at the border,” Biden recalled. “And now he proposes to rip spouses and children from their families, homes and communities and place them in detention camps.”
The angry Democrat continued, “He’s actually saying these things. It’s hard to believe this is being said. He actually says these things out loud.”
Tuesday’s announcement came after Biden moved earlier this month to close U.S.-Mexico border crossings — preventing most migrants from seeking asylum if they entered the U.S. that way.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied that Tuesday’s move to help spouses — which coincided with the 15th anniversary of the DACA program — would counterbalance the controversial asylum plan.