Before running for President of the United States twice in 2016 and 2000, and before serving the State of Ohio as Governor (2011-2019), Republican John Kasich was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001.
Kasich brought his nearly 20 years of experience negotiating deals in the House when he addressed the current standoff in the House regarding the new bipartisan immigration bill introduced by the Senate.
[Speaker of the House Mike Johnson — echoing the preference of GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump — has already rejected the bill. Trump said it was “terrible” and Johnson declared it “dead on arrival.”]
The American people favor immigration, but they want it to be controlled and legal. A bipartisan coalition can pass comprehensive immigration reform to resolve this crisis at the border. And we should tune out the people who are standing in the way for political gain. pic.twitter.com/jMKTxwEbo6
— John Kasich (@JohnKasich) January 31, 2024
Kasich disagrees with the assessments of Trump and Johnson and said on MSNBC: “The American people favor immigration, but they want it to be controlled and legal. A bipartisan coalition can pass comprehensive immigration reform to resolve this crisis at the border. And we should tune out the people who are standing in the way for political gain.”
House Republicans have been accused — even by those in their own party — of obstructing a deal that will help mitigate the border crisis because mitigating the crisis could help incumbent Joe Biden against Trump in the 2024 election. Like many House Republicans who have endorsed Trump for 2024, Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) recently asserted that Congress “can’t fix the border” and must wait for the “new president” to do it.
[NOTE: It’s not the first time Kasich has disagreed with Trump regarding immigration: In October 2015, Kasich criticized Trump’s plans to deal with the border, calling them “just crazy.”]
According to NBC News, the proposed bipartisan legislation is designed by its negotiators to eventually end “the practice of catch and release” and “would encourage migrants to seek asylum lawfully at ports of entry rather than try to cross illegally between ports of entry.”
Here’s what even a frequent Biden critic at Fox News reports the Senate border deal would accomplish:
Good and fair summary of the border deal from the Fox reporter who covers the border who has been a harsh Biden critic. These are the facts. pic.twitter.com/QI5jE3RCgF
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) February 5, 2024
