Harris inherits Biden’s border blaming from Trump, but it’s Congress’ ‘sweeping powers’ over immigration that should come under focus

Background: FILE - Migrants seeking asylum from India walk towards a staging area before being transported and processed, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, near Dulzura, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File). Insets, clockwise from top left: President Joe Biden speaks about an executive order in the East Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, June 4, 2024 (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta). Vice President Kamala Harris speaks following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, July 25, 2024 (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson). Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Tuesday, May 14, 2024 (Michael M. Santiago/Pool Photo via AP).

Background: FILE – Migrants seeking asylum from India walk towards a staging area before being transported and processed, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, near Dulzura, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File). Insets, clockwise from top left: President Joe Biden speaks about an executive order in the East Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, June 4, 2024 (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta). Vice President Kamala Harris speaks following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, July 25, 2024 (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson). Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Tuesday, May 14, 2024 (Michael M. Santiago/Pool Photo via AP).

On June 4, 2024, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation temporarily closing the southern border of the United States. As stated during a press conference that same day, this was done in response to the increasing migrant influx into the U.S. at that border and the need to regain control over entry.

White House justification for the proclamation pointed to a system that was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of foreign nationals seeking entry and Congress’ failure to address the problem through immigration reform, leaving Biden with no alternative but to act on his own. With over 2 million foreign nationals seeking to cross the U.S.-Mexico border in both 2022 and 2023, and over 300,000 encounters with enforcement officials in December 2023 alone, there has been much public and political debate about an immigration system in crisis. While there have been attempts at an overhaul in response to the current crisis, Congressional action has stalled.

However, public concern continues to grow, not just at the southern border, but across the country. This concern has accelerated since some southern border states have begun transporting undocumented foreign nationals in their states to states in the interior.

Because of their undocumented status, foreign nationals are mostly unable to secure lawful employment under federal law. That prohibition prevents them from obtaining the means to secure housing, food and health care on their own. The result has stressed states’ existing social systems.

The increased visibility of this human influx and its economic impact has many calling for the problem to be addressed. This has resulted in confusion over where the power to control immigration rests, what the extent of that power is and whether it is exclusive.

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