May 4, 2021
The following statements were issued by Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in response to President Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress:
Failure to acknowledge the border crisis:
“In his address to Congress and the American people, President Joe Biden utterly ignored masses of illegal aliens crossing our border – a crisis he created. Many of these migrants are unaccompanied children caught up in a humanitarian, national security and public health crisis. Even worse, the president has offered no viable plan of action to end the crisis that is growing worse by the day.
Addressing ‘root causes’:
“The Biden administration’s ‘solution’ to the crisis the president set in motion on his first day in office continues to hinge on ‘addressing the root causes of migration’ in the sending countries. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were not elected to solve the problems of Central America. They were elected to address the problems of the United States of America and, as the rest of the president’s speech made clear, his administration has much to do on that front. The idea that he and the vice president are going to show up with fistfuls of cash and end poverty, crime and corruption in Central America is pure hubris, or deliberate obfuscation. It is not a plan to end mass illegal migration.
DREAM Act and TPS amnesties:
“Apparently oblivious to the fact that his own pronouncements that unaccompanied children, and even those accompanied by adults, will be allowed to enter, has triggered an unprecedented surge of children, with and without parents, at our border, President Biden called for passage of the DREAM Act amnesty. The DREAM Act, which would grant previous waves of migrants who entered the country illegally as minors full citizenship and other benefits, would only add more incentives for people all across the globe to get their kids to the United States by any means necessary. Once again, the message from the president is, ‘Don’t bring or send your kids to the United States illegally, but if you do, they will be rewarded.’
“Additionally, he promised amnesty to people who agreed to accept our offer of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and are now reneging on their end of the bargain by demanding to remain permanently. TPS recipients were never promised a chance to stay here forever. Rather they promised to go home when the time is right, and the time is right.
Impact on American workers:
“While President Biden spoke at length about the need to get millions of American workers who were displaced by the COVID crisis back to work, the unprecedented amnesty he is proposing would make millions of illegal aliens eligible to compete legally for every job that becomes available. And, over the next decade or two, more than 50 million new people would gain eligibility to immigrate under our archaic family chain migration policy. Additionally, the administration has also authorized a 22,000 visa increase in guest workers. This is not what immigration in the national interest looks like.
Passing off amnesty as border security:
“Perhaps the most laughable attempt the president made was passing off his massive amnesty bill as a means to secure our borders. ‘If you believe we need a secure border – pass it.’ Perhaps the president hasn’t read the bill. There is no border security or any other form of immigration enforcement in it.”
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