In June, President Joe Biden decided to unilaterally rewrite our immigration law. Just three days before he dropped out of the presidential race, he announced new actions to “keep families together.” His plan will give illegal immigrants permanent U.S. citizenship if the individual has lived inside the U.S. for at least ten years as of June 17, 2024, and has been married to a citizen at some point. It also applies to individuals under 21 years of age with a parent or step-parent who is a citizen. A fact sheet from the White House admits that eligible people have “resided in the U.S. for 23 years” on average meaning our federal government took no action on those aliens for decades.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quickly moved forward with a plan. They created the Parole in Place (PIP) program to fast-track green card applications of illegal immigrants. Instead of returning to their country of origin to apply for U.S. citizenship, they now get to do so within the United States and receive immediate temporary protection from deportation. Even those who have recently received orders from a judge to be deported could have their case reevaluated and granted eligibility under PIP. DHS estimates this will impact 500,000 adults and 50,000 children but this is a very conservative number. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that the number will be over 1.3 million immigrants.
Last week, 16 Attorneys General along with America First Legal filed a lawsuit over the actions of the Biden administration. William Califf, a spokesperson for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, stated:
There are many millions of people around the world who would like to live in America for one reason or another, and they are welcome to come here — provided that they follow the rules. It is disgraceful for the President and Border Czar Harris to abandon our immigration laws over and over, which sends the message that the border is no more than a line in the sand.
This week, a federal judge in Texas stopped the PIP program from going forward. Judge J. Campbell Parker is allowing DHS to receive applications but pausing any approvals until the court can scrutinize all merits of the case. The DHS website clarified that they have already approved applications before the ruling and those will not be affected by the Court’s pause in the program.
The failure to enforce immigration laws at the federal level burdens the states with the consequences including job losses for American citizens, more taxpayer money to fund benefits and housing for illegal immigrants, and the rise in crime. The Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Order to increase access to voter registration encourages registering anyone who comes in contact with a federal agency — including those here illegally.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that the state has removed 1.1 million ineligible voters from the voter rolls. Among those names, 6,500 were noncitizens. Even with Texas’s stringent voting laws, such as presenting identification and proof of citizenship, thousands of illegal aliens slipped through the cracks. Other states are joining Texas to analyze their voter rolls. Alabama has found over 3,000 noncitizens in its voting registration database, and Virginia just removed over 6,000. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said, “Call me crazy, but I think American elections should be decided by American citizens.” The 2020 election is a reminder that every vote counts as the final decision came down to a mere 50,000 votes in three key states- Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin.
The House and Senate will return to Washington, D.C. on September 9th and it is imperative that the Senate consider Representative Chip Roy’s (R-TX) Safeguard American Voter Eligibility “SAVE” Act (H.R. 8281) to ensure that everyone who votes in a federal election has proof of U.S. citizenship. Because of the Biden administration’s lack of effort to secure our borders, this is a major issue for the November elections. So much so that many House and Senate Republicans want to combine the SAVE Act with the government funding bill set to expire on September 30th. However, with President Biden’s vow to veto the legislation and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) strategy to include his federal takeover of voting legislation as well, such a bill passed by the House would be dead on arrival in the Senate.
Under the Biden administration, Republicans have tried their best to mitigate the influx of illegal immigrants pouring over the border but have been largely unsuccessful due to their lack of numbers. This is why it is more important than ever to vote for candidates at the state and national levels who will uphold the rule of law and enforce border protections. As stated above, even Attorneys General can make a huge difference. Visit our Eagle Forum PAC page to see who we have endorsed, and please consider donating to make a difference in this year’s elections.