Washington — Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas on Sunday urged President Biden to step up enforcement of immigration legal guidelines as Republican governors this week ramped up their confrontation with the administration over its border technique by transporting migrants launched from federal custody to Democratic-run cities.
"By sending of us off to New York and Chicago, it does carry consideration, however we need to focus extra on options on the border," Cuellar, whose district contains areas alongside the U.S.-Mexico border, mentioned in an interview on "Face the Nation." "We have got to present Border Patrol, we have got to present ICE, Homeland Safety, the gear — you realize, ensuring they've the whole lot the place they'll implement the legislation, as a result of if we do not have repercussions on the border, we'll proceed getting 8,000 individuals a day."
Since Mr. Biden took workplace and rescinded lots of former President Donald Trump's immigration insurance policies, Republican governors and lawmakers have mounted a persistent marketing campaign to focus on the president's border technique. Their efforts escalated final week when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defended flying roughly 50 Venezuelan migrants to Martha's Winery with out notifying native officers there, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott organized to have two buses of migrants dropped off close to Vice President Kamala Harris' residence in Washington, D.C.
Texas and Arizona, led by GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, have despatched at the very least 295 buses with roughly 13,000 migrants to D.C., New York and Chicago, cities all led by Democrats.
The scheme to move migrants out of border states is a part of a broader effort by Republican officers to pressure Democratic-led areas to share the burden of accommodating migrants who cross the southern border and are launched from federal custody. The newest effort was met with outrage from Democratic lawmakers and immigration advocates.
"The migrants are human beings, and we have got to deal with them like human beings," Cuellar mentioned, including they're "getting used as political pawns to get publicity."
However the congressman mentioned the Biden administration must dedicate extra sources to legislation enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico border.
"The women and men in inexperienced, the women and men from Homeland, they should get the help," Cuellar mentioned. "They're good women and men, and what they should do is have two issues. One, they should get extra personnel, and we're including extra personnel within the appropriations invoice. They should get the gear, they should get assist. However an important factor is that they gotta be capable of implement the repercussions."
To discourage migrants from making an attempt to enter the U.S. illegally, the Texas Democrat urged the administration to convey the results of crossing the southern border by displaying photographs of migrants being despatched to their house international locations.
"When was the final time you noticed an image or video of individuals going again?" Cuellar mentioned. "You solely see individuals coming in, and you have to have phrases together with precise enforcement."
He additionally refuted the vp's name for Congress to rewrite immigration legal guidelines. Mr. Biden final yr tapped Harris to steer the administration's efforts to curb migration on the southern border amid hovering border apprehensions, and previous makes an attempt by lawmakers to reform the nation's immigration system have failed.
"With all respect to the VP," Cuellar mentioned, "there are sufficient legal guidelines on the ebook proper now that may return individuals again.