Architect of failed border deal hits Biden over immigration policy in SOTU

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) slammed President Biden over his comments about the failed border bill in last week’s State of the Union address.

Co-host Jake Tapper said Biden would have hired more border agents and immigration agents to speed up asylum processing after a bipartisan Senate agreement on the border failed. After speaking, Lankford played a video of him saying, “That’s true.” Lankford said Biden’s statements are true but leave out some executive actions that could be taken on border issues.

“I heard some of my colleagues around me saying that’s not true. And I was actually listening. The President said, ‘No, that part is actually true.’ Hiring all of the staff would have expedited the process and changed the asylum criteria so we could get through faster,” Lankford said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“The only way this issue can be resolved legally at this point is to change the asylum criteria and allow for faster trials,” he added.

Lankford, one of the co-authors of the bipartisan bill that failed last month, later criticized Biden for failing to address some of the executive actions he could take in the future on border issues. It is unclear what action Mr. Biden could take on immigration if no legislation is introduced in Congress.

“The problem is that the president is omitting some of the things he can do right now and choosing not to do them. He has a very open parole system, and today literally thousands of people meet and… They are being paroled rapidly,” Lankford said.

“He’s not really doing what’s called last-in-first-out in his hearings, and he’s able to prevent people from contacting him by getting them more quickly in the hearing process. So what the president doesn’t do is “There are multiple administrative actions for whatever reason a person chooses to do, but there are also legal authorities that need to be taken as well,” he added.