Today, Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03), Jared Golden (ME-02), Mary Peltola (AK-AL), and Don Davis (NC-01) released the following statement after the Biden Administration announced a new asylum processing rule:

“Border security must be the top national security priority for President Biden. These proposed changes do not give the Border Patrol the authority it needs to bring order to our Southern border, and the proposed changes will not be enough to stop the drug cartels from trafficking fentanyl over the border and into communities across America.

Put simply, the proposal is not good enough, and it is taking far too long for President Biden to take the steps he urgently needs to take to restore operational control of our Southern border.

As we said last month, President Biden needs to use the authority given the executive by Congress to immediately reimplement 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(C), and we are calling on leaders in both the House and Senate to pass legislation to give Border Patrol back the expulsion authority that expired last year.”

Last month, after voting for H.R. 3602 to restore operational control at the Southern Border, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez called on the President to utilize his full executive authority to address this crisis. 

In March, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez voted to pass funding for the largest Border Patrol workforce in the nation’s history. The Congresswoman also introduced the bipartisan Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act to secure the Southern Border, provide Border Patrol expulsion authority, and fight the flow of fentanyl entering the United States.