The following is a statement from Sarafina Chitika, National Press Secretary for the Democratic National Committee: 

“If Republicans actually cared about border security they would work with Congress to pass the comprehensive immigration reform bill President Biden proposed on day one in office instead of proposing to shoot desperate humans. But they don’t actually care – demonizing immigrants and blaming Democrats is a better talking point for them. 

“President Biden and his administration are doing what the Trump administration and Republicans failed to do: using the tools available to better secure the border and combat illegal immigration, and working closely with local leaders to encourage safe and legal immigration into this country. That’s what leadership looks like.”

Earlier this year, extreme House Republicans proposed a budget that would eliminate funding for 2,000 Customs and Border Protection agents.

Extreme MAGA Republicans pushed an extreme Republican shutdown that would leave tens of thousands of DHS law enforcement personnel unpaid.

Some House Republicans have even called to defund DHS: Texas Republicans who denounced ‘defund police’ now threaten to defund Homeland Security

President Biden has called on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform since his first day in office. And recently he has:

Requested $4 billion in his supplemental funding request to address the immediate needs of DHS to safely and humanely manage the Southwest border.

Announced a new series of sanctions for drug trafficking, including fentanyl and its precursor chemicals.

President Biden and Vice President Harris immediately set out to fix Donald Trump’s disastrous border policies. 

Vox: “In the almost three years since President Donald Trump took office, the US asylum system has almost become unrecognizable. The administration has built up, layer by layer, a series of impediments in Central America, at the border, in detention centers, and in the immigration courts that have made obtaining asylum nearly impossible.”

Vox: “On his first day as president on Wednesday, Joe Biden will send an ambitious immigration reform bill to Congress that would create an eight-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, bolster border security with new screening technologies, and deliver aid to Central America.”

Reuters: “Private companies have committed to invest $4.2 billion in northern Central America as part of an effort by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to reduce migration by targeting economic development, the White House said on Monday.”

The Biden-Harris administration remains committed to reuniting families separated under the Trump administration. 

Politico: “The Trump administration separated thousands more migrant kids at the border than it previously acknowledged, and the separations began months before the policy was announced, according to a federal audit released Thursday morning.”

Washington Post: “President Biden on Tuesday announced the start of efforts to identify and reunite hundreds of families who were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border by the Trump administration and remain apart years later. President Biden signed an executive order creating a task force to reunite the families, a step toward fulfilling a campaign promise.”

Associated Press: “A Biden administration task force designed to reunite children separated from their families during President Trump’s presidency has reconnected nearly 700 children with their families.”

President Biden’s most recent budget proposal includes major investments for border security, and last year he signed into law a major funding increase for border patrol. 

USA Today: “In his proposed 2024 budget, the president would allocate nearly $25 billion to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It’s a nearly $800 million increase over the 2023 enacted level.”

Government Executive: “Border Patrol is in line for a whopping 17% funding boost, which includes the funding for 300 new Border Patrol agents that the Biden administration had repeatedly stressed as necessary to handle the record-high numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.”