On the recordMay 22, 2024
let's start at the grassroots of Iowa. The question that comes up frequently at my county meetings--and next week, I am going to hold a Q&A in 12 of Iowa's 99 counties, and I expect I will get this question that I am going to pose to you: Senator, what are you going to do about the open border, people illegally entering our country? My answer is usually pretty short--that long before I came to the Congress, Congress passed laws saying you can't come to our country without our permission. In fact, I add that we are a very favorable country toward immigration because about 1 million people come here every year, and maybe we should have more who come here under our laws, within those laws, not breaking our laws by entering the country illegally. I don't get much of a pushback from that because I explain to them that we pass laws, and then the President enforces those laws under our Constitution. The President has decided not to enforce the immigration laws. It shouldn't surprise us that he has taken that position for 3\1/2\ years because he told us before the election that he was going to open the border. But there are some things Congress can do about immigration. That is why I am here on the floor today to ask unanimous consent for a piece of legislation that I put in. Maybe if this legislation becomes law, the President still might decide not to enforce it, like every other law. Since day one, the Biden administration has pursued an open border policy.…
Source
govinfo.gov




