United States: Joe Biden promises to “close the border” with Mexico if Congress gives him the authority to do so

The president of U.S, Joe Bidenthis Saturday reaffirmed its intention to “close the border” with Mexico if Congress grants it the authority to do so through the approval of a legislative project that Democratic and Republican senators have been negotiating in recent weeks.

“If this bill were passed into law, it would close the border right now,” Biden said in a speech during a Democratic Party dinner in South Carolina, a state that will begin the Democratic primary process for the presidential elections on February 3. November. .

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Biden He voiced his support for the initiative that senators from both parties have been negotiating for weeks and described it as “the hardest and smartest border security bill in history.”

The president expressed his intention to “close the border” for the first time in a statement distributed last night by the The White House. However, this was the first time he had expressed this publicly in front of television cameras.

These statements represent a significant change not only in Biden’s tone, but also in the traditional stance of the Democratic Party on immigrationand also reflect the importance that the issue gained for his re-election campaign.

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The former president Donald Trump (2017-2021)favorite to be the Republican Party candidate, focuses the largest of his rallies on migration and has made it clear that he plans to use this issue against Biden.

According to The Washington Post, when Biden talks about “closing the border” he is referring to a clause included in the legislative project that would allow migrants to be expelled when arrests at the border with Mexico exceed 5,000 over a five-day average. .

Under this clause, most migrants who cross the border irregularly would not be able to seek asylum, according to The Washington Post, which cites sources familiar with the text of the bill.

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During this period, migrants could apply for asylum at ports of entry, but with a limited number of places available.

This measure would allow the indefinite expulsion of migrants until they are detained at the border with Mexico drops to less than 3,750 per dayaccording to the newspaper.

The text of the legislative project is not yet public, but senators said they hope to release it next week.

The Senate, under Democratic control, was willing to approve the project. However, Republicans in the Lower House, where they hold the majority, have already expressed their rejection and, in addition, Trump has asked them to reject any compromise with the Democrats.

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The border agreement is part of a broader package of measures being negotiated in Congress.

Included in this package are new aid funds for Ukraine and Israel, items that are a priority for Biden and whose approval he already requested from Congress in October.

However, Republicans have refused to approve such aid unless changes are made to the asylum and immigration system, which has led both Biden and members of Congress to the current situation.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.