‘Just Give Me The Power’: Biden Urges Congress to Pass Immigration Bill So He Can End the Border Crisis

President Joe Biden took questions from reporters on the White House lawn Tuesday and was asked to weigh in on whether or not he already has the power to secure the southern border.

“Have you done everything you can do with executive authority?” a reporter can be heard asking over the roar of Marine One in the background.

“Give me the power. I’ve asked from the very day I went into office,” Biden responded, arguing he lacks the authority to do all he would like to.

“Give me the Border Patrol. Give me the judges. Give me the people who can stop this and make it work,” the president added.

On Monday, former President Donald Trump claimed that the president already has the power to stem the flow of migrants into the country:

A Border Bill is not necessary to stop the millions of people, many from jails and mental institutions located all over the World, that are POURING INTO OUR COUNTRY. It is an INVASION the likes of which no Country has ever had to endure. It is not sustainable or affordable, and will, under Crooked Joe Biden, ONLY GET WORSE. I had the safest and most secure Border in U.S. History. I didn’t need a “Bill!” They are using this horrific Senate Bill as a way of being able to put the BORDER DISASTER onto the shoulders of the Republicans. The Democrats BROKE THE BORDER, they should fix it. NO LEGISLATION IS NEEDED, IT’S ALREADY THERE!!!

Notably, according to the CATO Institute, while migrant encounters and arrests are way up under Biden, under Trump a greater percentage of detained migrants were released into the country. Trump is openly opposing any new legislation to reform the immigration system, which both parties insist is broken.

Biden’s comments doubled down on a statement he released last Friday urging Congress to grant him a “new emergency authority” to shut the border.

“And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law,” Biden added in comments supporting a bipartisan deal being hammered out in the U.S. Senate.

“It was a stark claim from a Democratic president that was met with astonishment and shock from immigrant advocates who have said his policies do not reflect the progressive approach they had expected,” noted the AP of Biden’s statement.

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