Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-NY) blasted the Biden administration for its efforts to secure the southern border, stating that meetings with the Mexican government this week were "too little, too late."
“I don’t expect anything to come out of it. We have people on the other side of the aisle who are claiming this is the administration stepping up and looking to do something,” the congressman said during a Wednesday interview on the Hill on NewsNation. “Have they kept their head in the sand for that long that they haven’t realized that this has become an issue plaguing our entire country?”
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“Every state is now a border state, every city a border city," D'Esposito added.
The Biden administration has taken steps over the last week to engage in immigration policy talks. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas were in Mexico City on Wednesday to discuss the influx of immigrants coming through the southern border. Last week, President Joe Biden held a phone call with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in which both leaders agreed to combat the immigrant surge.
Republicans have long been pressuring Biden to strengthen border enforcement almost from the minute he took office, calling the situation a "border crisis" and making it a focal point of the 2024 election. The Biden administration has been negotiating with Senate Republicans on a border security deal, as the GOP in the upper chamber has warned it will not support a foreign aid budget until Congress can enact a bill addressing the border.
However, D'Esposito said it is unclear at this time if House Republicans would be willing to support a border security agreement with the Biden administration.
“I think we have to see. We have to see what the deal is, what they want to put on the table,” the New York congressman said.
“I want to see more Customs and Border Patrol agents hired. I want to see investments in the ability to process asylum,” he said about his priorities. "I am not one of those people who say that we should not welcome people into this country. I believe people are deserving of the American dream, but they need to come through the front door.”
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“In order for us to welcome people into this country and give people that American dream, we need to be able to process those asylum cases, and we need to give our processors every resource that they need to get that done,” the New York Republican continued.
The border crisis in the South has pushed into other states after Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) began busing immigrants to Democratic-led states as early as April 2022. Several mayors of those cities, such as Brandon Johnson of Chicago and Eric Adams of New York City, have repeatedly called on the Biden administration to increase federal aid to help cities and states with the influx.