Ernst Calls on Biden Administration to Publicly Release Immigration Plan

WASHINGTON – In response to the crisis at the U.S. southern border, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, called on the Biden Administration to release their immigration policies to Congress and the American people. In a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Ernst and eleven of her Senate Republican colleagues called on the Mayorkas to make public a document that contains details of President Biden’s plans to address this crisis.

In the letter, Ernst and her colleagues write, “We write today to request you immediately release a document titled ‘DHS Plan to Restore Trust in Our Legal Immigration System.’ This document, which was first reported in the liberal New York Times, allegedly contains details of President Biden’s plans to use and abuse executive authority to reshape our immigration system in spite of the text of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).” 

They go on to say, “It is disturbing that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would keep this kind of information hidden from Congress and the public, yet share it with the mainstream, liberal media. These proposals have the potential to compromise the integrity of our immigration vetting system at the expense of national security and public safety. The fact this is being withheld from Congress and the American people is particularly troubling given the ongoing crisis at the southern border.”

Read the entire letter below:

Ernst has drawn attention to the crisis and has taken steps to address it.

She highlighted how the crisis at the Southern Border affects communities across the country and urged the Biden Administration to step up and take real action to secure the border.

Ernst helped put forward the Stopping Border Surges Act, a bill to address loopholes in our immigration system which encourage vulnerable immigrant populations to take dangerous, illegal paths of entry into the United States.

She also joined her colleagues in highlighting what they say is President Biden’s unlawful suspension of border wall funding and construction.

Ernst published an op-ed calling the situation at our border both a humanitarian crisis and national security threat and urged President Biden and his administration to acknowledge the border crisis.

As the lead Republican on the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Ernst highlighted the importance of defending the border against the threat of Transnational Criminal Organizations and other nefarious influencers—including Iran, Russia, and China—and called on her colleagues to work together to secure the border.