Rep Cline: As Biden-Senate battle over debt ceiling, House GOP to pivot to comprehensive immigration reform, securing border
Virginia Congressman Ben Cline discusses Republican efforts moving forward, following the passage of the debt ceiling bill earlier this week. Cline comments that, “now that [House Republicans have] gotten the debt ceiling issue across the finish line and over to the Senate, [it will] be interested to see if the Senate can can pass anything, the President still not coming to the table to talk about how to secure our nation's credit-worthiness.” Saying, Republicans in the meantime are pivoting and, “are going to be acting on immigration. Securing the border is one of the promises that Republicans made and voters voted for when they delivered us the House, last fall. So we're going to be passing two bills that may be combined into one, the first comes out of the Homeland Security Committee, which deals with actual physical barriers and securing the border. Yes, building a wall, but also technology, the different towers that need cameras, the infrared, all of the different ways that we can secure the border. And then the Judiciary Committee, once again, went through a late night markup, to pass legislation to reform our asylum laws.” Saying, the comprehensive immigration reform, “will reform the remain in Mexico policy, to say that if you're going to come into this country, illegally, you're not going to be given parole, you're not going to be released into the interior of the country, you're going to be given the opportunity, if you have asked for asylum, you're going to be returned to Mexico or your country of origin to wait it out. And during that time, if you don't want to be returned, you can remain in custody, but you don't get to be released into the interior of the country. And also, if you're skipping through countries on the way to the United States, from your country of origin, you can only ask for asylum in the country, next to yours. You can't go through three countries and then get to the United States, then say ‘I choose the United States, that's the one I want to ask for asylum in,’ that’s not the purpose for asylum.”