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Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) released the following statement on President Biden’s newest immigration Executive Order:

“Irregular migration between ports of entry has been climbing over the last decade, well before President Biden was in the White House. The reality today is that many migrants arriving at our southern border are economic migrants—whom our country desperately needs—but are unlikely to ever qualify for asylum. As a result of the volume, our asylum system has become so overwhelmed that asylum seekers must now wait several years to have their claims heard, and this is unacceptable. The Republican majority in the House rejected the president’s request for the resources necessary to deal with this challenge and they have also refused to bring real and sustainable legislative solutions to the floor.

“While I understand the administration is doing its best to navigate this challenge without adequate resources and appropriate legislation, I am disappointed that the focus today is only on enforcement, and it is my sincere hope that administrative actions on immigration relief, like parole in place for the spouses of US citizens and designations of Temporary Protected Status for vulnerable populations, will also happen. 

“My colleagues in Congress who want fewer administrative actions must also be willing to compromise and work on lasting, comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform, like my bipartisan Dignity Act. The Dignity Act would not only humanely reform outdated border processes, but it would open up badly needed legal pathways, something both Republicans and Democrats should seek to fix our broken immigration system.”