The tragic death of Laken Riley, a University of Georgia student aged 22, continues to echo through the national discussion on immigration and border crises. Riley was murdered by an illegal immigrant, which makes it the latest hot topic in the ongoing debate about border security and immigration policies.
Republicans responded to this horrific murder by condemning the Biden Administration and its failures to find solutions to the border crisis. GOP lawmakers passed a measure that would help solve the issue, but Democrats have not embraced the idea.
It is particularly true for Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-GA, who accused the GOP recently of politicizing Riley’s death. In an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union”, he attacked Republicans for their reaction to the tragedy.
Warnock stated, “As a pastor, I have done hundreds of eulogies. I’ve presided over many funerals. There is no greater grief than when nature is tragically reversible and the parents are forced to bury their children.”
He went on to say, “Amid this grief, some are trying to gain cheap political points.”
The senator then criticized Republicans who refused to accept a bipartisan measure that would also have sent more taxpayer funds to Ukraine.
They are the ones who have walked away from a bipartisan bill or even a chance to discuss it, and now try to score political points after a young girl’s death. This is the worst kind of politics. This is what makes people turn away from politics. We can do better, I believe. We can do everything to keep our children safe, including securing the border.
If Democrats were serious about border protection, this argument might be a bit more convincing. This is a clear indication that they do not. The bipartisan bill contained far too many loopholes which President Biden and Democrats were able to exploit to continue the influx of asylum seekers and illegal migrants.
The bill contains a new emergency power that allows the Department of Homeland Security, as Biden put it, to “shut down the border” if too many migrants are trying to cross.
DHS can close the border when Border Patrol encounters 4,000 migrants or more on average in seven days. If the average number of encounters in seven days was 5,000 or exceeded 8,500 on a single date, then DHS could close the border.
This authority would prevent the border from being closed for more than 270 consecutive days during the first year. The bill also gives the president the authority to suspend border closures “on an urgent basis” for up to 45 days if that is in the national interests.
Border Patrol will still have to process at least 1,400 migrants trying to enter the U.S. through legal ports of entry during an emergency closure. Only minors who are unaccompanied would be allowed to travel between ports of entry. Any migrant that crossed illegally twice or more during an emergency border situation would be banned from the U.S.
Warnock’s accusations against Republicans are little more than a diversion from the fact Biden and Democrats have been unable or unwilling to come up with a solution to the border problem.
