Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), who has publicly denounced President Biden‘s support of the Senate-backed border bill, says: “Any border ‘shutdown’ authority that ALLOWS even one illegal crossing is a non-starter. Thousands each day is outrageous. The number must be ZERO.”
At no point since the Border Patrol was created in 1924 has the United States been able to reduce crossings to zero. Never. It is impossible. In fact, no nation in human history has ever been able to stop every unlawful border crossing—not even North Korean or East Germany. https://t.co/9S9QOAUrSg
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 29, 2024
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at American Immigration Council and former immigration lawyer at Legal Aid in New York, points out that meeting Johnson’s demand would be unprecedented, replying:
“At no point since the Border Patrol was created in 1924 has the United States been able to reduce crossings to zero. Never. It is impossible. In fact, no nation in human history has ever been able to stop every unlawful border crossing—not even North Korea or East Germany.”
Reichlin-Melnick also noted that what “Speaker Johnson refers to in the 2nd paragraph” (of his “Dear Colleagues” letter) “is INA 212(f), the authority for Trump’s travel bans…has ZERO application to migration at the border. You know how we know this? Because Trump did what Johnson is demanding in 2018—to NO EFFECT.”
Oh god, not this again. What Speaker Johnson refers to in the 2nd paragraph is INA 212(f), the authority for Trump’s travel bans.
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 27, 2024
It has ZERO application to migration at the border.
You know how we know this? Because Trump did what Johnson is demanding in 2018—to NO EFFECT. https://t.co/Wyviv1xe0O pic.twitter.com/pnZ4gPJ18V
MSNBC’s Jake Sherman has amplified Johnson’s demand — which the Speaker presents as being underpinned by 212(f) — a demand claiming that the government is allowed to “suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of alien” that would be “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”
Not so, refutes Reichlin-Melnick, who contends that Sherman’s amplification of Johnson’s dubious reasoning is also cause for alarm.
Reichlin-Melnick is “at this point just begging” Sherman “to actually talk to an expert… because the more he repeats the claim about 212(f), the more people get this completely incorrect idea that it has any impact on migration at the border. It does not!”
At this point, I'm just begging @JakeSherman to actually talk to an expert on this point, because the more he repeats the claim about 212(f), the more people get this completely incorrect idea that it has any impact on migration at the border. It does not!https://t.co/qHQL3idMDP
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 30, 2024
