The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) – along with groups like The Heritage Foundation, NumbersUSA, the National Border Patrol Council, and numerous former border enforcement officials – have signed a coalition letter instructing Republican leaders on how to retake control of the southern border and properly address what they expect to be an electoral mandate in the 2022 midterms.
"When the 118th Congress opens with new majorities in both chambers, it will be in large part because Americans have rejected the Biden administration's purposeful dismantling of our nation's borders and our immigration enforcement infrastructure," the letter reads.
"Congress should be emboldened with the mandate to immediately legislate unflinchingly, ensuring that neither this nor any future administration is again able to weaponize loopholes in the immigration system – and defiantly refuse to follow plain law – to purposefully drive mass illegal immigration to the United States."
Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for FAIR, spoke with AFN.
"The president's handling of immigration policy has brought together a coalition of people who are not necessarily focused on immigration, but understand the implications this could have for the country – and they're starting to act," he assures. "We're starting to see more groups and individuals coming on board … and I guess we can thank Joe Biden for that."
For example, one of the legislative recommendations in the letter urges lawmakers to "mandate and appropriate resources for completion of the border wall system."
Mehlman points out that after years of opposition to a southern border wall or fence – and even a government shutdown to prevent one – Democrats in Congress apparently have become fond of erecting physical barriers on their own doorstep while still depriving Americans of the same protection. He says recent events indicate Democrats have tacitly admitted that walls are an effective deterrent.
"You see that right now in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. We saw it last year around the U.S. Capitol. We see it around Joe Biden's vacation house. Obviously, walls have utility," he argues. "The reason that they have ceased construction of the southern border wall is not that it's ineffective. It's precisely the opposite: it's effective and they don't want it to be effective."
According to Mehlman, this new coalition will push the next Congress to pass legislation putting the brakes on Biden's immigration malfeasance.
"The … reckless immigration policies that this administration is foisting on the American public affect every aspect of public policy in the United States, and they want it stopped," he stresses. "And nothing obviously is going to happen as long as Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are calling the shots in Congress."
He remains optimistic that come January, new leadership on Capitol Hill will be more amenable to the coalition's recommendations – which include establishing an authority to immediately expel illegal immigrants across the border; and substantially reforming the current asylum system so it makes clear that an illegal alien is ineligible for asylum in the U.S. if they traversed a safe third country.
