https://sputnikglobe.com/20240316/gop-blasts-biden-spending-on-climate-change-at-border-amid-record-illegal-immigration-1117358941.html
GOP Blasts Biden Spending on Climate Change at Border Amid Record Illegal Immigration
GOP Blasts Biden Spending on Climate Change at Border Amid Record Illegal Immigration
Sputnik International
Efforts to pass federal immigration reform remain stalled as Republicans reject compromise legislation negotiated in the Senate.
2024-03-16T05:05+0000
2024-03-16T05:05+0000
2024-03-16T05:05+0000
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A Biden administration effort to modernize US ports of entry is drawing criticism from Republicans who argue the money would be better spent on stemming undocumented immigration at the country’s southern border.The plan was announced on Thursday on the website of the US federal government’s General Services Administration. $1 billion in funds allocated through the 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction act will be spent to retrofit facilities at land crossings on the US border with Mexico and Canada. Among the measures taken are the conversion of buildings to run on clean power sources and efforts to improve energy efficiency.But Republican lawmakers criticized the announcement, calling it “a slap in the face to Americans” as illegal border crossings surge to unprecedented levels.Conservative groups suggested the conservationist focus of the efforts is undermined by the environmental damage caused by migrant caravans, which leave behind trash and waste. “The impacts are health risks to visitors, fouling of wildlife waters, and compromising the aesthetics of [wildlife refuges],” read a report from the US Fish and Wildlife Service entitled “The Impacts of Illegal Immigration on Public Lands.”Some 302,000 migrants were encountered at the United States’ southern border in December, a record number. It briefly appeared a violent confrontation between state and federal security officers might ensue amidst disagreements on border enforcement between the Biden administration and Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Abbott is attempting to move forward on state-level enforcement efforts as federal immigration reform legislation has stalled.Immigration has emerged as a highly contentious political issue in the United States. Various US industries including hospitality, construction, and agriculture frequently employ large numbers of undocumented immigrants. Business interests’ reliance on the demographic as a source of cheap labor led former US President Ronald Reagan to enact an amnesty policy for illegal migrants in 1986.Former US President George W. Bush also attempted to pass an overhaul of US immigration policy in the 2000s that would’ve created a temporary “guest worker” program. But many Republicans have become fiercely opposed to undocumented immigration in recent years.High-profile cases, such as the suspected killing of a nursing student in Georgia by an undocumented Venezuelan migrant, have created fodder for conservative lawmakers and media personalities alleging the dangers of uncontrolled immigration.Studies have found undocumented immigrants in the US commit crimes at lower rates than the general population. But the strain on social services caused by large numbers of migrants has caused even some Democrats, such as New York City Mayor Eric Adams, to press for legislative reform.Critics blame US foreign and economic policy for what’s often characterized as a “crisis” at the country’s southern border. Undocumented immigration from Mexico surged in the 1990s after the passage of the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA). Hundreds of thousands of family farmers there were forced out of business as barriers against cheap product from US agribusiness were lifted.The neoliberal economic policy was eventually extended to Central America as well with the passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2004. Immigrants from Central American countries make up the bulk of recent undocumented migration to the United States.Observers say the United States’ decades-long policy of coups and political interference south of the border has broadly destabilized many countries, leading to a surge in crime and drug trafficking. Thousands of people were killed or tortured during a Cold War campaign of political subversion throughout Latin America known as Operation Condor.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240226/most-americans-believe-illegal-migration-hotter-issue-under-biden-than-trump-obama---poll-1116999855.html
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GOP Blasts Biden Spending on Climate Change at Border Amid Record Illegal Immigration
Efforts to pass federal immigration reform remain stalled as Republicans reject compromise legislation negotiated in the Senate.
A Biden administration effort to modernize US ports of entry is drawing criticism from Republicans who argue the money would be better spent on stemming undocumented immigration at the country’s southern border.
The plan was announced on Thursday on the
website of the US federal government’s General Services Administration. $1 billion in funds allocated through the 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction act will be spent to retrofit facilities at land crossings on the US border with Mexico and Canada. Among the measures taken are the conversion of buildings to run on clean power sources and efforts to improve energy efficiency.
But Republican lawmakers
criticized the announcement, calling it “a slap in the face to Americans” as illegal border crossings surge to unprecedented levels.
“As usual, the Biden administration is refusing to address a problem of their own making,” said Bruce Westerman (R-AR), the chair of the House Natural Resources Committee. “Instead, they’re touting a billion-dollar investment in green technology at the border while Biden’s border crisis continues to wreak havoc on local communities and federal lands.”
Conservative groups suggested the conservationist focus of the efforts is undermined by the environmental damage caused by migrant caravans, which leave behind trash and waste. “The impacts are health risks to visitors, fouling of wildlife waters, and compromising the aesthetics of [wildlife refuges],” read a
report from the US Fish and Wildlife Service entitled “The Impacts of Illegal Immigration on Public Lands.”
“In addition to endangering those millions of people by encouraging them to travel at the hands of cartels, these journeys across Central America to the US southern border are devastating to croplands and wildlife habitat along the way,” said James Massa, chair of the conservative anti-immigration group NumbersUSA.
Some 302,000 migrants were encountered at the United States’ southern border in December, a record number. It briefly appeared
a violent confrontation between state and federal security officers might ensue amidst disagreements on border enforcement between the Biden administration and Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Abbott is attempting to move forward on state-level enforcement efforts as federal immigration reform legislation has stalled.
Immigration has emerged as a highly contentious political issue in the United States. Various US industries including hospitality, construction, and agriculture frequently employ large numbers of undocumented immigrants. Business interests’ reliance on the demographic as a source of cheap labor led former US President Ronald Reagan to enact an amnesty policy for illegal migrants in 1986.
Former US President George W. Bush also attempted to pass an overhaul of US immigration policy in the 2000s that would’ve created a temporary “guest worker” program. But many Republicans have become fiercely opposed to undocumented immigration in recent years.
High-profile cases, such as the suspected
killing of a nursing student in Georgia by an undocumented Venezuelan migrant, have created fodder for conservative lawmakers and media personalities alleging the dangers of uncontrolled immigration.
Studies have
found undocumented immigrants in the US commit crimes at lower rates than the general population. But the strain on social services caused by large numbers of migrants has caused even some Democrats, such as New York City Mayor Eric Adams, to
press for legislative reform.
Critics blame
US foreign and economic policy for what’s often characterized as a “crisis” at the country’s southern border. Undocumented immigration from Mexico surged in the 1990s after the passage of the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA). Hundreds of thousands of family farmers there were forced out of business as barriers against cheap product from US agribusiness were lifted.
The neoliberal economic policy was eventually extended to Central America as well with the passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2004. Immigrants from Central American countries make up the bulk of recent undocumented migration to the United States.
Observers say the United States’
decades-long policy of coups and political interference south of the border has broadly destabilized many countries, leading to a surge in crime and drug trafficking. Thousands of people were killed or tortured during a Cold War campaign of political subversion throughout Latin America known as Operation Condor.
