Stanton, New Dems Urge Speaker Johnson to Put Politics Aside and Negotiate a Bipartisan Border Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today Rep. Greg Stanton, chair of the New Democrat Coalition’s Immigration and Border Security Task Force, and 58 Coalition members sent a letter to Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson urging him to work across the aisle in good faith on bipartisan legislation to secure our southern border and reform our broken immigration system.

The letter reads in part: “It is unfortunate that you and members of your Conference have described the situation as a winning political issue, and suggested that you would wait to act on the border until a Republican president is elected. This is unacceptable. We respectfully urge you to put the American people and our nation’s security ahead of petty partisan politics. It is long past time to negotiate in good faith on a bipartisan solution to humanely secure our southern border and reform our immigration system.”

The full letter is available here and below:

Dear Speaker Johnson,

The New Democrat Coalition has continually recognized the urgency of the situation at the border. In May, we called for comprehensive immigration reform and increased funding to secure the southern border. In July, we urged the Biden Administration to request supplemental resources to bolster border operations. In November, we implored you to bring the Administration’s national security supplemental to the floor for a vote. And we have repeatedly called for bipartisan solutions to meaningfully address the challenges presented by increased migration, the flow of illicit fentanyl through our ports of entry, and the backlog of visa applications and asylum cases in our immigration courts.

That is why we were dismayed by your comments this week that you refuse to even consider a bipartisan solution to securing our border or bring to the floor the national security supplemental. It is unfortunate that you and members of your Conference have described the situation as a winning political issue, and suggested that you would wait to act on the border until a Republican president is elected. This is unacceptable. We respectfully urge you to put the American people and our nation’s security ahead of petty partisan politics.

It is long past time to negotiate in good faith on a bipartisan solution to humanely secure our southern border and reform our immigration system. We appreciate your consideration of this request and remain ready to work together to address this critical issue.

Permalink: https://stanton.house.gov/2024/1/stanton-new-dems-urge-speaker-johnson-to-put-politics-aside-and-negotiate-a-bipartisan-border-bill

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