January 31, 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) demanded any deal on the border include stopping the Biden administration’s abuse of parole authority, which allowed for 1.2 million illegal immigrants to be released into the country last year. Ricketts made the comments while on a conference call with Nebraska media.
“The law is clear. Our parole system is supposed to be about individuals with special circumstances.”Ricketts said. “It’s not meant to be an amnesty for those who just want to come here and work.President Biden is handing out parole like Halloween candy – giving it to 85% of the people who knock on our door. This is a clear abuse of parole authority. It must stop.”
“The federal government has a fundamental responsibility to secure our borders,” Ricketts closed.“Joe Biden’s unprecedented abuse of parole authority is a fundamental driver of the national security and humanitarian crisis that’s happening right now at our southern border. If we are going to make progress in securing the border, ending these abuses must be part of any border deal.”
TRANSCRIPT:
Senator Ricketts: “There is no more important issue facing our country right now than the ongoing national security and humanitarian crisis at our southern border.
“Last week, we learned more people tried to cross our border illegally in December than the entire population of Lincoln.
“There were over 302,000 border encounters in December – the highest month ever recorded.
“Customs and Border Protection also arrested 19 people on the FBI’s terror watchlist in December. That brings the total number of such encounters to 50 just since October. That number used to be in the single digits for an entire year.
“The Biden administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws. It’s also overreaching its authority to allow more illegal immigrants into our country.
“The most shocking example of this is the Biden administration’s abuse of parole authority.
“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, parole should only be granted on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian need or significant public benefit. Those given parole can apply for work authorization and travel within the United States.
“Now let me put this into perspective. Typically, what has happened in the past is that under the Obama and Trump administrations, an average of 5,600 people were granted parole into this country in a given year.
“Right now, it’s about 1.2 million people. That’s how many that Biden allowed into the country last year through parole.
“Alejandro Mayorkas said in one of his conferences with the border folks that essentially 85% of the people were getting let into the country. Again, let’s just put this into perspective. 1.2 million people is about two-thirds the population of the size of Nebraska. Two thirds of our population.
“The law is clear. Our parole system is supposed to be about individuals with special circumstances. It’s not meant to be amnesty for those who just want to come here and work.
“President Biden is handing out parole like Halloween candy – giving it to 85% of the people who knock on our door. This is a clear abuse of parole authority. It must stop.
“The federal government has a fundamental responsibility to secure our borders. Joe Biden’s unprecedented abuse of parole authority is a fundamental driver of the national security and humanitarian crisis that’s happening right now at our southern border.
“If we are going to make progress in securing the border, ending these abuses must be part of any border deal.”