As the U.S. is seeing a massive influx of immigration at the southern border, Sen. Lindsey Graham (S-S.C.) says he is willing to sit down with Democrats to work on an immigration reform bill.
In 2013, Graham was an advocate for immigration reform as he joined a bipartisan group of seven other senators to introduce a proposal designed to overhaul the nation’s immigration system.
While their bill passed the Senate, it died in the House as Republicans did not want to touch the subject with the midterm elections on the horizon.
Eight years later, Graham says he is willing to work with Democrats to pass an immigration reform bill, but not before officials can get the current situation at the southern border under control.
“The Biden administration is creating chaos where there was order, and the only way we’ll ever be able to sit down with our Democratic colleagues is to regain control of the border,” Graham said, adding, “And I want to say without any hesitation, Biden has lost control of the U.S.-Mexico border.”
He continued, “Until he regains control [of the border] by implementing policies that work, it’s going to be very hard to do the Dreamers or anybody else.”
Graham claimed that without regaining control of the border overhauling the immigration system would lead to more illegal immigration.
Finally, he reiterated his position, “Once we regain control of the border count me in for sitting down and doing what I’ve been doing for years, trying to find a workable solution. But until we control the border, that is impossible.”
Watch the video below:
Sen. Lindsey Graham: "Once we regain control of the border count me in for sitting down and doing what I've been doing for years, trying to find a workable solution." pic.twitter.com/Pvbijui0dq
— The Hill (@thehill) March 17, 2021
His comments come as the House is set to vote on a pair of immigration bills that would provide a pathway to citizenship for “Dreamers,” immigrants who entered the country illegally when they were children, and around one million undocumented farm workers.
Those bills are different than Biden’s proposed immigration bill, which would create an earned pathway to citizenship for the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country.
At the same time the House is set to vote on the immigration bills, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says the country is on pace to see the highest level of border crossings in 20 years.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas noted that in a statement on Tuesday that families and single adults are being apprehended at the border and turned away
However, there is also an influx of unaccompanied migrant children coming to the border. The administration has implemented a policy to hold migrant children “until the child is placed with a sponsor here in the United States.”
That policy has created a new challenge for the administration as shelters to house the migrants are becoming crowded. As of Wednesday morning, the U.S. reportedly has over 13,000 migrant children in custody.
Congressional Republicans have blamed the influx of migrants to the southern border on Biden’s proposed policies.
During a trip to the border, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called the situation “a human heartbreak.”
“The sad part about all of this, it didn’t have to happen. This crisis is created by the presidential policies of this new administration. There’s no other way to claim it than a Biden border crisis,” he added.
Administration officials have sought to deter immigrants from heading to the border, for now, as they work to implement what they say is a “humane” immigration system.
And Biden sought to echo that message during an interview with ABC News, as he told potential immigrants, “Don’t come over… Don’t leave your town or city or community.”
