Mar 24 2021

Graham Introduces Bill to Regain Control of Southern Border

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today held a press conference on his introduction of the Secure and Protect Act of 2021 to reform broken policies and stop the abuse of our asylum laws.

  • GRAHAM: “The Biden Administration has lost control of the southern border. It’s time to regain control, and you have to deal with the dynamic that led to the border being overrun. This is not a seasonal event. Trump's got nothing to do with this. This is not Trump's fault…this is policy choices that were ill-conceived that have blown up in the Biden Administration’s face.” https://youtu.be/YdPLMYi6sJs?t=14
  • GRAHAM: “Most asylum seekers are not coming because of fear, but because of economic distress. The asylum standard has been completely abused. It is being used by cartels and human traffickers, and they're telling these poor folks all over Central America, ‘once you get to America, claim asylum. You're entitled to a hearing, they will release in the United States, then you can go anywhere you want to go.’ 90% of the people never show up for the hearing, and 90% of those who do show up are not allowed asylum. The asylum system is being gamed. The Secure and Protect Act will stop this.” https://youtu.be/YdPLMYi6sJs?t=424
  • GRAHAM: “I am convinced if this bill became law and we had a three-year timeout in accepting claims inside the United States, making sure people apply outside the country in their home country or some international refugee center that we can set up in Mexico or someplace else, that this flow will stop literally overnight. If we don't do that, the worst is yet to come.”  https://youtu.be/YdPLMYi6sJs?t=510
  • GRAHAM: “The Democratic Party has to admit that Trump's not the problem here, they are. The Biden Administration, by giving an exception to unaccompanied minors from being deported under Title 42, has created a flow problem that we haven't seen before because word is out in Central America, if an unaccompanied minor gets to the United States, they’re not going to be sent back.” https://youtu.be/YdPLMYi6sJs?t=554
  • GRAHAM: “Can you imagine what would happen if Congress actually passed the DREAM Act without addressing the underlying problems at the border? There would be a run on our border like you've never seen before. If it got out that, hey, a million people just got legal status who've been here for decades, don't you think people throughout the world, particularly the Northern Triangle, would take that as an incentive to come? So we cannot possibly pass any legalization legislation until we regain control of the border.” https://youtu.be/YdPLMYi6sJs?t=626

Watch Graham’s Full Remarks

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