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On Thursday, Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), along with 35 Members of Congress, sent a bicameral letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers on the department’s unilateral expansion of immigration parole to more than 30,000 illegal aliens monthly from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela. Parole grants an individual, in limited circumstances, temporary permissive entry into the United States and shall be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, not a country-by-country basis. This is just the latest example of the Biden Administration’s major, unilateral changes to immigration policy that have culminated in the historic crisis at the southern border.

“Secretary Mayorkas testified under oath that parole is ‘judged on an individualized case-by-case basis’ but I have seen no evidence to support this claim. Instead, his department is abusing the parole authority to mass-release hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens into the country. The department’s latest announcement reveals that it will continue to proceed and even accelerate this abuse as parole grants will increase by 33% from just last month. It’s unclear where the department derives legal authority to parole groups of this size and how this policy change enhances border security. As usual, the department has some explaining to do and I’m grateful for Senator Vance’s partnership in this effort,”  said Congressman Andy Biggs. 

“Since the day they took office, President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have purposefully and maliciously eroded our nation’s border security. They have presided over the worst border crisis we’ve seen in decades and more illegal immigration than any administration in recent history. Now, they aim to sidestep Congress and the law by granting parole to hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants. This is a massive gift to the drug cartels and human traffickers that are killing Americans by the day and wreaking havoc on our country. The American people deserve to know why the Biden Administration has taken this action, and more importantly, what legal justification there is to support it. I’m grateful to Congressman Biggs and all my colleagues who have joined me in this effort to hold President Biden accountable for his disastrous border policies. I look forward to a timely response from Secretary Mayorkas,”  said Senator J.D. Vance.  

“The entire point of President Biden’s parole programs is to usurp Congressional authority and create new, unlawful pathways for would-be border crossers. Just consider this: When the monthly cap on beneficiaries is added up, it allows up to 360,000 additional aliens to enter the country every year for the purpose of staying permanently. The American people didn’t ask for these programs, and lawmakers didn’t create them. But that doesn’t matter to the open-borders advocates running the show in the Biden administration. First, their goal was to stop all immigration enforcement. Now they seek to bypass existing immigration programs and simply create their own. All that is left for President Biden to do at this point is to order the border to be erased from the map. FAIR commends Congressman Biggs and Senator Vance for this oversight effort,”  said RJ Hauman, Director of Government Relations and Communications at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

“NumbersUSA applauds Congressman Biggs and Senator Vance for demanding accountability from the Biden Administration for its latest national origins-based abuse of parole authority. Immigration law clearly states that parole must be granted on a ‘case-by-case basis,’ not a ‘national-origin basis.’ Not only is the Biden/Mayorkas plan illegal, it is discriminatory and will only worsen this historic border surge,”  said Rosemary Jenks, Director of Government Relations at NumbersUSA.

“The president of the United States is sworn to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States. The Biden administration has shown that it is intent on doing the exact opposite with its handling of the border and immigration. By law, parole is only to be used on a case-by-case basis and in situations where admitting the individual to the United States represents a compelling public interest. This mass importation program does not come close to meeting those standards. I’m glad to see Senator Vance, Congressman Biggs, and others teaming up on this oversight letter. I hope that Secretary Mayorkas can take some time away from preparing his impeachment defense to fulfill his obligations to promptly answer these questions,” said Mike Howell, Director of the Heritage Foundation Oversight Project.

The bicameral letter may be read here.

House cosigners of Congressman Biggs’s letter include: Rep. Brian Babin D.D.S (R-TX), Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), Rep. Mary E. Miller (R-IL), Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX), Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), Rep. Matthew M. Rosendale, Sr. (R-MT), Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO), Rep. Ronny L. Jackson (R-TX), Rep. Paul Gosar D.D.S (R-AZ), Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX), Rep. Randy K. Weber (R-TX), Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Rep. Rich McCormick, MD, MBA (R-GA), and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).

Senate cosigners of Senator Vance’s letter include: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), and Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO).

Author: Press Release

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