The White House statement comes after a week of frantic negotiations in the Senate.

The White House statement comes after a week of frantic negotiations in the Senate.

President Joe Biden on Friday urged Congress to pass a bipartisan bill to address the immigration crisis at the nation’s southern border, saying he would shut down the border the day the bill became law.

“What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said in a statement. “It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”

Biden’s Friday evening statement resembles a ramping up in rhetoric for the administration, placing the president philosophically in the camp arguing that the border may hit a point where closure is needed. The White House’s decision to have Biden weigh in also speaks to the delicate nature of the dealmaking, and the urgency facing his administration to take action on the border — particularly during an election year, when Republicans have used the issue to rally their base.

The president is also daring Republicans to reject the deal as it faces a make-or-break moment amid GOP fissures.

  • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
    52·
    5 months ago

    If we had a political party with the courage to say “It’s not a crisis, quit falling for bullshit” that number would go down

    • PugJesus@kbin.social
      23·
      5 months ago

      Not by much, I’d wager. Democrats don’t tend to sway their opinions much when the party takes a different line than the majority Dem opinion, and Republicans are too racist to change their views on the border.

      It would be nice to have a voice of sanity in the fucking country, though.

      • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
        33·
        5 months ago

        A majority of Democratic voters in the 40s and 50s thought segregation was a state issue the federal government should stay out of because they didn’t want the controversy, but some Democratic leaders saw it differently, and thank goodness they did because without them pushing the issue along with civil rights activists we never would have gotten (among other things) a voting rights act.

        It wouldn’t just be nice to have a voice of sanity, it’s the only way this issue is getting any better imo

        • PugJesus@kbin.social
          8·
          5 months ago

          While Truman’s advocacy of civil rights in the '48 platform is definitely pivotal in terms of effecting policy, I would raise the question as to how much of the change in opinions was due to the party tack, and how much was due to the ongoing and revitalized post-WW2 civil rights movement and increasing integration and civic participation of liberal blocs in the north.

          I suppose it’s academic in the end. I would love for the Dem party to take up the issue, like I said. It’s just a ‘chicken or the egg’ question.