President Biden this week signed an executive order to increase restrictions on border crossings, as Republicans have sought to make immigration a top campaign issue heading into November.
“I’ve come here today to do what the Republicans in Congress refuse to do: take the necessary steps to secure our border,” Biden, flanked by mostly Democratic lawmakers, said during a White House signing ceremony.
A Gallup poll in February identified immigration as the most important issue the nation faces — up significantly from just a month earlier, from 20 percent of those surveyed saying it was the top concern to 28 percent.
Biden’s returning rival for the White House this year, former President Trump, has hammered Democrats on issues of border security.
But the president’s action, which largely mirrors bipartisan legislation that has failed repeated attempts at passage, hasn’t won much praise from conservatives and threatens to splinter Democrats on a fragile issue.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) dismissed the order as “window dressing.”
“Everybody knows that if he was concerned about the border, he would have done this a long time ago,” Johnson told reporters.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who has been a vocal advocate for more border action and gone as far as sending his own enforcement to curb crossings, called the order “nothing but a smokescreen.”
The bipartisan border bill was seen politically as a way for vulnerable Democrats in swing states to claim a vote for tougher restrictions and take some of the heat off the issue.
But it’s not just Republicans who have taken issue with Biden’s executive step-in: Some Democrats also have sought to distance themselves from the order and accused Biden of caving to GOP talking points.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who came to the United States as a refugee, said she was “deeply disappointed” by Biden’s “cruel” order.
“Biden has signaled to the world that we will turn our back on those suffering from global catastrophe to appease the far-right who will never be satisfied,” she said in a statement.
