The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Wednesday rallied behind new bipartisan legislation that would address the immigration crisis at the southern border.
Introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), as well as Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas), the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act would expand the number of border processing facilities and hire more Department of Homeland Security personnel to improve migrant children care.
“With the Border Patrol estimating that this situation will only get worse, we must address this in a meaningful way that is fair to migrants seeking asylum, takes the pressure off of our border communities, and allows our Border Patrol agents to focus on their primary mission of securing the border,” Cornyn said.
The four new centers would be located in “high-traffic Border Patrol sectors,” but the exact locations are unclear, according to Border Report.
The Chamber has long advocated for a solution at the southern border, and was a vocal opponent of President Trump’s immigration policies.
Previously, the group endorsed two immigration bills: the team-left American Dream and Promise Act, and the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act.
The former would provide citizenship to young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children, while the latter would provide a pathway to citizenship for farmworkers.
“The sharp increase in the number of individuals crossing our southern border and the severe overcrowding at our nation’s border facilities present a set of circumstances that Congress cannot ignore. Our leaders need to address this pressing situation, and the only way that meaningful policy changes will be enacted is if republicans and democrats work together to achieve those results for the American people,” Neil Bradley, the Chamber’s chief policy officer, said Thursday.
He added that the provisions in the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act are “not only necessary to confront the ongoing crisis on our southern border, but they also need to be considered by Congress as they debate other immigration issues where reform is desperately needed,” per The Hill.
