Biden vows to shut down border when it ‘becomes overwhelmed’ if Congress passes bill

President Biden promised to shut down the border “when it becomes overwhelmed” if Congress passes a bipartisan border security bill.

“Let’s be clear,” Biden said in a statement Friday. “What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country.  It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed.  And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) said if reports about the terms of the deal are accurate, legislation on border security and Ukraine aid would have been “dead on arrival” in the House, in a letter to colleagues Friday.

“I wanted to provide a brief update regarding the supplemental and the border, since the Senate appears unable to reach any agreement. If rumors about the contents of the draft proposal are true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House anyway,” Johnson said.

The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed that in December, there were 302,034 encounters at the southern border, setting a record high.

“CBP continues to use all available resources to ensure the safety and security of our agents and officers, and the migrants who are often misled and victimized by the transnational criminal organizations,” Troy A. Miller, a senior official for CBP, said in a statement Friday. “But as we have repeatedly said, CBP and our federal partners need additional support from Congress so that we can continue to effectuate consequences for those who do not use established lawful pathways.”

Former President Trump has worked to try killing a border deal, in an attempt to prevent Biden from getting a victory on legislation.

“I do not think we should do a Border Deal, at all, unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions & Millions of people, many from parts unknown, into our once great, but soon to be great again, Country!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social account nearly two weeks ago.