Republican Study Committee urges party to zero in on border crisis, link to Biden’s ‘radical’ policies

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Situation at US southern border is ‘completely predictable’: former border patrol chief

Ron Vitiello, former chief of U.S. Border Patrol and retired acting ICE director, argues Biden’s immigration policy changes have been contributing to the ‘terrible problem’ at the border.

EXCLUSIVE: An influential Republican caucus is urging the party to zero in on the escalating crisis at the southern border, and link it directly to President Biden’s "radical" immigration and border policies he has implemented since being inaugurated.

"Over the next few months, Americans will watch the crisis on our border worsen. They will see the consequences of the radical left’s recklessness in real time," the memo distributed by the Republican Study Committee, and obtained by Fox News, says.

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"And every one of those consequences can be traced back to Joe Biden because every major change in our immigration policy since Inauguration Day was made unilaterally through the executive branch," it says.

The administration has been scrambling to cope with an influx of migrants, particularly unaccompanied children (UACs) and families, at the border. It is opening a number of shelters and processing centers, while allowing facilities to expand to 100% capacity.

Meanwhile it is considering using a Virginia military base for "potential use as a temporary influx care facility for [unaccompanied children] at some point in the future."

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Republicans have pointed to the array of dramatic changes Biden made to immigration policy since entering the White House in January. Biden has ended the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which kept migrants in Mexico, narrowed enforcement priorities for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and proposed an immigration bill to grant millions of illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship.

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Additional factors, such as Mexico’s refusal to accept families back from the U.S., have exacerbated the situation, which has seen migrants being released into the U.S. – a practice ended by the Trump administration.

The RSC memo urges members to highlight the policies, calling it a "messaging gift" by which voters can draw a "straight line between Jan. 20 and the current border crisis."

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The group points also to DHS statements that citizens would not be prioritized over illegal immigrants for vaccines, and the halt of construction of the wall at the southern border.

"The results of Biden’s radical policies are indefensible and that’s why the RSC is urging its members to highlight the #BidenBorderCrisis during the early months of the Biden admin," the memo says.

The Biden administration has denied there is a crisis at the border, with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last week saying it was a "challenge" as they sought to undo what he described as cruel policies from the prior administration.

"It takes time to build out of the depths of cruelty that the administration before us established," he said. "What we are seeing now at the order is the immediate result of the dismantlement of the system and the time that it takes to rebuild it virtually from scratch."

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Republicans have continued to hammer the administration on the matter, pointing to not only the influx of migrants, but also linking it to the Biden reversals of Trump-era policies. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., on Sunday highlighted Biden's ending of diplomatic agreements like MPP and others with Northern Triangle countries.

"And that's why we have this surge," Johnson said on "Fox News Live" on Sunday. "And we've got a huge incentive now for people to come to this country. And we're only seeing the beginning of it. This is going to be a disaster."