The ongoing migrant crisis has been the center of numerous debates over how America should be handling its southern border. While the White House does its level best to avoid the issue entirely, Republicans and even Democrats are calling for actual solutions to the problem.
States like Texas, Florida, and Arizona have even resorted to sending migrants and illegal aliens to blue cities to give proponents of lax immigration policies a glimpse into how their stances are affecting Americans living near the southern border. But now, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has proposed legislation that might actually aid those who actually want to address the matter.
The lawmaker introduced a measure that would allow states to enforce federal immigration law, including deporting illegal aliens. Fox News reported:
The “Empowering States to Deport Illegal Immigrants Act” would authorize state and local law enforcement officers to enforce certain federal immigration laws, and comes amid ongoing Republican claims that the Biden administration is refusing to secure the border.
The bill would effectively abrogate a 2012 Supreme Court case which significantly limited the ability for states to be involved in immigration enforcement. Instead, the bill would allow states to use their resources for immigration enforcement.
If passed, the law would authorize state prosecutors to prosecute violations of federal immigration law, and would empower states to deport illegals and take steps to secure the southern border.
This legislation would essentially allow states to take action, since the Biden administration is determined to keep the crisis going while trying to gaslight the American public into believing the southern border is “secure.”
During this fiscal year, Border Patrol has reported over 2.1 million encounters at the border. Most of these have been released into the country since President Joe Biden rescinded most of former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. It is believed that more than a half a million “gotaways” managed to evade authorities and are currently residing in the U.S. in violation of immigration laws.
“If Joe Biden isn’t going to enforce immigration laws, why don’t we let the states enforce immigration laws?” Hawley said last week during an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle.”
The State of Texas would love to, the states of Florida, Arizona, they’d love to enforce immigration laws. Let’s them do it, let’s let them secure the border, let’s let them deport illegal immigrants according to our laws.
“Let’s take the gloves off here, let’s enforce the law, let’s restore order to the border,” he added.
House Republicans are also trying to find ways to address the situation at the southern border despite not yet having control of Congress. Some have suggested refusing to vote on the continuing resolution to fund the government–unless it contains provisions to beef up border security and stem the flow of illegals into the United States.
In fact, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) urged his colleagues to vote against any bill that does not address the matter. Not surprisingly, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has not indicated that he would follow suit.
If the spending bill is not passed, it will lead to a partial government shutdown on Friday. This gambit was suggested by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, founder of America First Legal.
“If Senate leadership stays agnostic on the greatest domestic policy scandal of our lifetimes, it’s going to be read by the public as complicity” with the Biden administration’s open border policies, Miller argued.
The possibility that states like Texas could deport illegals has been a topic of discussion on the right, with people urging Gov. Greg Abbott to declare the migrant crisis an “invasion” and begin unilaterally deporting illegals. But this isn’t quite as simple as it seems, as I discussed in a previous article.
With the current makeup of Congress, Hawley’s bill is unlikely to pass. Unless Republicans win a decisive victory over Democrats in November, it will be difficult to get enough support for such a measure. Democrats surely won’t go for it, and we can always expect squishy Republicans to concur with their Democratic cohorts.
However, this does not mean that such a proposal might not pick up steam in later elections when the GOP solidifies its hold on both chambers of Congress and the White House. While the senator’s proposal might not be able to help solve the current migrant crisis, it would certainly give states more authority to protect their residents.
