A group of 40 Republican senators on Wednesday asked the Government Accountability Office to decide whether President Biden’s decision to freeze more than $ 1 billion in funding for the Congress-approved border wall violates federal law.
The letter arrives at the moment when a flow of migrants reaches the border between the United States and Mexico, creating a humanitarian crisis.
The coalition led by Senator Shelley Moore Capito, RW.Va., noted Biden’s immediate suspension of the construction of the border wall on the day of the inauguration.
In the weeks after Biden’s inauguration, “operational control of our southern border has been compromised and a humanitarian and national security crisis has ensued,” wrote the senators.
“The president’s actions contributed directly to this unfortunate, but totally preventable, scenario,” says the letter. “They are also a flagrant violation of federal law and violate the constitutional power of the Congressional scholarship.”
BIDEN CANNOT CONTINUE WITH THE INCREASE IN THE BORDER OF MIGRANT CHILDREN, OFFICIAL NOTICES OF CBP
Senators said they believed Biden’s actions “violated the Accumulation Control Act (ICA), as interpreted by his office,” and are seeking GAO’s legal opinion.
Congress approved nearly $ 1.4 billion in funding for the border wall in December 2020 for fiscal year 2021 as part of former President Donald Trump’s $ 900 billion coronavirus stimulus package.
Senators added that apprehensions at the border have increased since Biden took office.
ARCHIVE – Crews build a section of the border wall at the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, in Douglas, Arizona. (AP Photo / Matt York)
Signatories include minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., And the following Republican senators:
- John Barrasso from Wyoming,
- Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee
- Roy Blunt, from Missouri
- John Boozman from Arkansas
- Mike Braun from Indiana
- North Carolina’s Richard Burr
- Susan Collins from Maine
- John Cornyn from Texas
- Tom Cotton from Arkansas
- Kevin Cramer of North Dakota
- Mike Crapo of Idaho
- Steve Daines of Montana
- Joni Ernst from Iowa
- Deb Fischer from Nebraska
- Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
- Bill Hagerty of Tennessee
- John Hoeven of North Dakota
- Cindy Hyde-Smith from Mississippi
- Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma
- John Kennedy from Louisiana
- James Lankford of Oklahoma
- Cynthia Lummis from Wyoming
- Roger Marshall from Kansas
- Jerry Moran from Kansas
- Rand Paul from Kentucky
- Rob Portman from Ohio
- Jim Risch of Idaho
- Utah’s Mitt Romney
- South Dakota Mike Rounds
- Marco Rubio of Florida
- Rick Scott from Florida
- Richard Shelby from Alabama
- John Thune from South Dakota
- Thom Tillis of North Carolina
- Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania
- Tommy Tuberville from Alabama
- Roger Wicker from Mississippi
- Todd Young from Indiana
GAO public affairs director Charles Young confirmed to Fox News that the office had received the letter, but added that each new order goes through a review process that usually takes several weeks.
THE WORD THAT THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WILL NOT USE WHEN IT IS THE BORDER? ‘CRISIS’
Migrant children are arriving at the southern border of the US at rates faster than they can be processed and transferred to the sponsors’ homes, while the Biden government has repeatedly denied that there is a “crisis” at the border, said a senior customs and protection officer Frontiers Fox news.
The number of migrant children in federal custody has risen to more than 4,000, with about 94% of beds for occupied migrant children, the source told Fox News. Migrant children are entering federal custody much faster than leaving, creating an unsustainable accumulation, the source said.
People surround a car arriving with food donations at a makeshift camp for asylum seekers in the United States, crossing the border on Friday, March 12, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo / Gregory Bull)
Customs and Border Protection announced last week that the agency found 100,441 individuals in February, an increase of 28% over January, the agency said. Of these, 19,246 individuals were in family units, 9,457 were unaccompanied children (UACs) and 71,598 were single adults.
In early March, a senior DHS official confirmed to Fox News that the number of migrant children in custody along the border has tripled in the past two weeks to more than 3,250 and that more than 1,360 have been detained for longer than the three days. allowed.
MCCARTHY SAYS BIDEN HAS NOT RESPONDED TO HIS REQUEST FOR A BORDER MEETING, HOW THE GOP LINKS A CRISIS TO ITS POLICIES
Several Republicans planned to visit the United States’ border with Mexico and get a first-hand account of what is happening.
Republicans on the House’s Internal Security Committee visited the border over the weekend before the testimony of the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, before the committee on Wednesday.
Mayorkas issued a lengthy statement on Tuesday defending government policies and suggesting that the course will not change anytime soon.
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“The situation on the southwestern border is difficult,” said Mayorkas. “We are working 24 hours a day to manage it and will continue to do so. This is our job. We are progressing and executing our plan. It will take time and we will not waver in our commitment to succeed. “
Adam Shaw and Evie Fordham of Fox News contributed to this report.