US President Joe Biden, on Tuesday, voiced concerns that the bipartisan immigration bill is faltering due to political pressure from Republican rival Donald Trump. Biden pledged to take the issue directly to voters, attributing the bill's stagnation to Trump's political motivations.
"All indications are this bill won't even move forward to the Senate floor. Why? The simple reason: Donald Trump," Biden said. "Because Donald Trump thinks it's bad for him politically”, he was quoted by Reuters.
Biden's approval rating dipped to 38 per cent in January amid heightened immigration worries, as per the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll. Throughout his presidency, Biden has faced challenges with record numbers of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border illegally, a situation Republicans argue could have been avoided had Biden maintained Trump's restrictive policies.
Despite encounters averaging over 9,500 per day in December, US government statistics show a significant decline in the past month. Biden aims to highlight Trump's role in hindering bipartisan cooperation on immigration reform, emphasising border security and funding for other programs.
"I'll be taking this issue to the country and the voters are gonna know that...just at the moment we're going to secure the border and fund these other programs Trump and the MAGA Republicans said no because they're afraid of Donald Trump," Biden said at the White House.
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The $118 billion bill, which also allocates aid for Israel and Ukraine amidst Russian aggression, is losing traction on Capitol Hill. House Republicans have dismissed it, while over 20 Republican senators find it lacking in strictness. Several Democrats have also opposed the bill because they say some of its measures treat migrants too harshly, according to Reuters.
Biden refrained from addressing Democratic resistance but instead attributed the stalling of the bipartisan immigration bill to Republican capitulation under pressure from Trump. He accused Trump of actively lobbying Republican lawmakers to "intimidate them into voting against this proposal."
"Frankly, they owe it to the American people to show some spine and do what they know to be right," Biden asserted, as per Reuters.
Echoing Biden's sentiments, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticised Trump for exacerbating opposition to the border security deal, suggesting Trump's preference for exploiting border chaos for political gain rather than allowing the Senate to address the issue effectively.
"Donald Trump would rather keep the chaos at the border so he can exploit it on the campaign trail instead of letting the Senate do the right thing and fix it," Schumer was quoted by Reuters.