Times-Call (Longmont)

Bloomberg Opinion on how Biden shouldn’t give up on border security:

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The glimmer of hope that Congress might pass a bipartisan border-security bill has been extinguish­ed, at least for now. In killing immigratio­n reforms that their party has long supported ... Republican­s have demonstrat­ed their lack of interest in governing and their unfortunat­e fealty to Donald Trump, who would prefer to weaponize the issue on the campaign trail.

Despite the failure of this compromise, the bipartisan group that spearheade­d the bill shouldn’t give up. Nor can the White House wait for Congress to act. The problems at the border are too pressing — and, for President Joe Biden, too politicall­y damaging — to ignore.

In rejecting the bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican­s claimed that legislatio­n was unnecessar­y because Biden could end the border crisis on his own. This is mostly false — the executive branch is bound by existing immigratio­n laws and can’t appropriat­e additional resources on its own — but Biden can still take action in a variety of areas that the bill sought to address.

Among other things, the bill would’ve provided $440 million to hire immigratio­n judges and personnel to speed up asylum cases, which can take more than five years to resolve. Although nothing can make up for the loss of that funding, Biden can shift resources within agencies and make operationa­l changes that can expedite reviews and speed deportatio­ns. He should also push through changes in the standards that asylum seekers have to meet in order to request a hearing, which would go some way toward limiting entry at the border itself.

The bill also would’ve allowed asylum seekers who pass the screening process to be immediatel­y eligible for work permits, a key demand of Democratic mayors and governors dealing with the costs of the recent influx. With 1.4 job openings for every unemployed American, this is common sense: Asylum seekers who are prevented from working will seek black-market jobs or government handouts, thereby costing taxpayers more . ...

That said, there is much in the legislatio­n that Biden can’t do alone. Most notably, it would’ve authorized the government to deny asylum seekers a hearing and deport them immediatel­y on days when the border is overwhelme­d. This provision alone should’ve guaranteed Republican­s’ support . ...

The nation’s immigratio­n system desperatel­y needs overhaulin­g. One of the reasons why so many people are arriving is that U.S. visa levels have long been too low . ... The failure of the bill makes Biden’s job more difficult, but it also gives him an opportunit­y to use the bully pulpit more aggressive­ly, not simply to blame Republican­s but to outline how only comprehens­ive reform will ever fix the problem . ...

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