Will Congress work with the President to fix the border crisis?
By Roger Caldwell
Last week, President Obama met with his harshest critic, Texas Governor Rick Perry about the border crisis. The Republicans would have you believe that the president is dragging his feet and his policies are the problem. But astute political observers acknowledge that the Republicans have been blocking the president’s initiatives on immigration.
Republicans continue to argue that the federal government has failed to secure the border, and that is the reason the problem has escalated. But everyone knows that the government can spend trillions of dollars on securing the border, and still people will find a way to get across the border.
In the Senate, the legislators have passed a comprehensive immigration bill that would provide the border with 20,000 additional border patrol agents. This law would also provide additional resources and more legal assistance for the country and immigrants. But Congress has refused to bring the bill on the floor or discuss the positive and negative aspects of the law.
The president understands that the Republicans who control Congress have the ability to start fixing the problem. By asking the Republicans to authorize supplemental financing that would give the government $3.7 billion, the problem could start to be improved. This would be a temporary fix, but something is better than nothing.
The $3.7 billion would set up new detention facilities, conduct more aerial surveillance, and hire immigration judges and Border Patrol Agents. In the last 6 months there have been a flood of over 60,000 children and some mothers passing through the Rio Grande Valley. Many of these illegal unaccompanied children expect to be caught, because the government refuses to deport them back to their country, based on a 2008 Bush law.
Many of the Republicans are placing this crisis on a 2012 Obama action, which allowed young people in the U.S. illegally to stay in the country. Instead of working together to solve a problem, the Republicans are blaming the president as slow and ineffective.
On the other hand, President Obama believes that the Republicans are more interested in theater and photo-ops. The president says, “The problem is fixable if lawmakers are interested in solving it, but if the preference is politics, it won’t be solved. Is Congress prepared to act to put the resources to get this done? Are folks more interested in politics or in solving problems,” says the president.
It is obvious that there is a problem at the border in the Rio Grande Valley, but the president is offering a solution with more resources and finances. Instead of talking about the problem, the president is laying out a concrete plan that makes sense.
When, President Obama met with Texas Governor Rick Perry last week to discuss some of his concerns, he said there is nothing that is taking place down here that he is not intimately aware of. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson had made five trips to the border and was preparing for his sixth trip.
It is very easy for the Republicans to look at a situation and say what the president is not doing. But to implement a plan that works is hard work, and it takes time. In our instant society the border crisis will not magically disappear.
The president appears to have this problem under control if he can get $3.7 billion from Congress. Many of the problems in the Congress could be resolved faster, if there were bipartisan intervention, and legislators trusting each other.
