[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 50 (Thursday, March 21, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2518-S2519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SENATE RESOLUTION 608--DENOUNCING THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION'S 
                          IMMIGRATION POLICIES

  Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. Budd, Mr. Cramer, Mrs. Capito, 
Mr. Hoeven, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Hawley, Mr. 
Cotton, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Johnson, Mr. 
Braun, and Mrs. Hyde-Smith) submitted the following resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 608

       Whereas President Joe Biden and Secretary of Homeland 
     Security Alejandro Mayorkas have created the worst border 
     security crisis in the history of the United States;
       Whereas President Biden, beginning on day one of his 
     administration, systematically dismantled effective border 
     security measures and interior immigration enforcement;
       Whereas the Biden Administration's open-borders policies 
     have incentivized nearly 9,300,000 illegal aliens from all 
     around the world, including criminal aliens and suspected 
     terrorists, to arrive at the southwest border;
       Whereas the Biden Administration has allowed at least 
     6,300,000 illegal aliens from the southwest border to travel 
     to communities within the United States;
       Whereas current immigration law allows for the United 
     States to enter into asylum cooperative agreements with other 
     countries to allow for the removal of certain aliens seeking 
     asylum in the United States;
       Whereas asylum cooperative agreements provide the United 
     States with another tool to reduce the incentives for illegal 
     immigration;
       Whereas asylum cooperative agreements increase cooperation 
     with United States allies in the Western Hemisphere and 
     around the world and promote shared responsibility;
       Whereas the previous administration announced asylum 
     cooperative agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and 
     Honduras;
       Whereas the Biden Administration suspended and terminated 
     these asylum cooperative agreements as part of its open-
     borders agenda that has encouraged mass illegal immigration 
     at the southwest border;
       Whereas the Biden Administration retains the ability to 
     negotiate asylum cooperative agreements with El Salvador, 
     Guatemala, and Honduras but has refused to do so, despite 
     historic illegal immigration at the southwest border;
       Whereas clauses (ii) and (iii)(IV) of section 235(b)(1)(B) 
     of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1225(b)(1)(B)) require the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
     detain inadmissible aliens arriving in the United States who 
     indicate either an intention to apply for asylum under 
     section 208 of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1158) or a fear of 
     persecution;
       Whereas the Immigration and Nationality Act provides for 
     the Secretary of Homeland Security to detain, during removal 
     proceedings, aliens who arrive at the border and are found to 
     be inadmissible;
       Whereas the Biden Administration has purposely violated 
     United States immigration law by refusing to detain 
     inadmissible aliens arriving at the border;
       Whereas the Biden Administration could comply with the 
     mandatory detention statutes of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act;
       Whereas the Biden Administration's purposeful violation of 
     the mandatory detention statutes of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act has resulted in the mass release of millions 
     of illegal aliens into United States communities;
       Whereas current immigration law allows for inadmissible 
     aliens to be expeditiously removed from the United States 
     once encountered at the border unless they establish a 
     credible fear of persecution;
       Whereas the Biden Administration has released millions of 
     illegal aliens into the United States without even processing 
     them for expedited removal to be screened for asylum 
     eligibility;
       Whereas only 6.8 percent of the 5,600,000 illegal alien 
     encounters from January 20, 2021, through August 31, 2023, 
     resulted in the Department of Homeland Security placing the 
     illegal alien into expedited removal proceedings to even be 
     screened for asylum eligibility;
       Whereas roughly 40 percent of the illegal aliens who were 
     not found to have a credible fear of persecution were not 
     removed and remained in the United States as of August 31, 
     2023;
       Whereas nearly a third of the illegal aliens who were 
     processed for expedited removal and who did not even attempt 
     to make a claim for asylum cannot be confirmed by the Biden 
     Administration as having been removed from the United States;
       Whereas the Biden Administration could expand expedited 
     removal to more quickly remove illegal aliens at the border 
     and screen more illegal aliens for asylum eligibility instead 
     of mass releasing them into the United States;
       Whereas the Biden Administration's limited use of expedited 
     removal only incentivizes illegal immigration and worsens the 
     border crisis;
       Whereas the Biden Administration terminated the Migrant 
     Protection Protocols despite their effectiveness;
       Whereas the Biden Administration has purposely violated 
     United States immigration law by abusing discretionary case-
     by-case authority and other parole authorities to mass parole 
     illegal aliens who would otherwise have no legal basis to 
     enter and remain in the United States;
       Whereas the Biden Administration's proposed solution to the 
     border crisis failed to address catch-and-release valves such 
     as the Flores Settlement Agreement and the William 
     Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
     Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-457; 122 Stat. 5044) that 
     incentivize surges of unaccompanied alien children and adults 
     arriving with children to come to the southwest border, 
     putting children's lives at risk;
       Whereas the Biden Administration could end its catch-and-
     release policies;
       Whereas the Biden Administration's proposed solutions to 
     the border crisis did nothing to end catch-and-release but 
     instead mandated mass release of illegal aliens at the 
     southwest border;
       Whereas parks, schools, police stations, recreation 
     centers, hotels, and airports have been repurposed for use as 
     shelters for illegal aliens;
       Whereas the Biden Administration's open-borders policies 
     have strained State and local social services resources as 
     the millions of illegal aliens who have entered since January 
     20, 2021, compete with United States citizens and legal 
     immigrants for those resources;
       Whereas section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality 
     Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) empowers the President to ``suspend 
     the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens . . . or 
     impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to 
     be appropriate''. . . ``[w]henever the President finds that 
     the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the 
     United States would be detrimental to the interests of the 
     United States'';
       Whereas, in Trump v. Hawaii, 138 S. Ct. 2392 (2018), the 
     Supreme Court described the President's suspension of entry 
     authority as an authority that ``exudes deference to the 
     President in every clause'';
       Whereas President Biden has cited his suspension of entry 
     authority in other instances but has refused to use that 
     authority to address the border crisis;
       Whereas President Biden retains the power to use his 
     suspension of entry authority to address the border crisis;
       Whereas President Biden's refusal to use his suspension of 
     entry authority ensures that the border stays open, endangers 
     the United States, and encourages illegal immigration; and
       Whereas President Biden has claimed he is powerless to 
     address the border crisis through executive action: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) affirms that, in order to help control the crisis at 
     the border that it has created, the Biden Administration has 
     the authority to--
       (A) end the catch-and-release policy;
       (B) reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols;
       (C) enter into asylum cooperative agreements;
       (D) end abuses of parole authority;
       (E) detain inadmissible aliens;
       (F) use expedited removal authority; and
       (G) rein in taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens;
       (2) affirms that the Biden Administration is refusing to 
     use such authorities; and
       (3) urges the Biden Administration to immediately begin 
     using such authorities.

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