“Enforce the Immigration Laws”: Maine Democrat Lays Blame for U.S. Border Catastrophe on Biden

U.S. Rep. Jared Golden (ME-02) called on President Joe Biden to “enforce the immigration laws” after voting Wednesday in favor of a GOP resolution that accused the White House of “systematically” dismantling border enforcement and releasing criminal illegal aliens into the country.

“Most of us understand that nations need borders, those borders should be secured, and we should enforce the immigration laws on the books,” Golden said.

“Most of us also understand that those seeking entry to our country deserve an orderly and predictable immigration process. Right now we have problems on both fronts,” he said.

The resolution, introduced by Republican U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Moran (TX-01), amounts to a purely symbolic rebuke of the Biden Administration’s handling of the southern border amidst record levels of illegal immigration.

According to the resolution, illegal entries into the U.S. have totaled more than 100,000 every month Biden has been in the White House and more than 7 million since he took office.

Among those are 312 illegal aliens that were flagged on the terrorist watch list, a 2,700 percent increase from all four years of the Trump Administration.

More than 3.3 million illegal aliens — i.e. more than double the population of Maine — have been intentionally released into the interior of the country by the Biden Administration, according to the resolution.

“[T]he Biden administration created the illegal alien crisis at the southwest border by terminating the Migrant Protection Protocols, halting border wall construction, abusing parole authority, mass releasing millions of illegal aliens into the country, and implementing policies that incentivize illegal immigration, among other actions,” the resolution states.

”[T]he Biden administration systematically dismantled immigration enforcement and restricted the ability of immigration officials to deport aliens who violate United States law, ensuring relatively few aliens, including criminal aliens, are removed from the country,” it states.

Last year, Golden introduced a bill that would have allowed federal immigration officers to process illegal aliens for deportation without an immigration court hearing.

Although Golden was able to get six co-sponsors for the bill, including four Republicans, the proposal has languished in committee since he introduced it and is unlikely to move forward.

Golden, a Democrat, is seeking re-election to a third term in a rural district that has twice voted for Republican President Donald Trump.

Multiple polls in recent months have shown that President Biden is unpopular in Maine, especially in northern Maine.

A University of New Hampshire poll released last week found that 75 percent of “independents” and 56 percent of “moderates” disapproved of Biden’s job performance.

While 53 percent of voters in liberal southern Maine approved of Biden’s performance, just 21 percent of central Mainers, 33 percent of northern Mainers, and 36 percent of Downeasters indicated approval of the current administration.

In November, Golden will face a tough re-election challenge against one of two Republican primary candidates, Rep. Austin Theriault (R-Fort Kent) or Rep. Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips).

Trump’s candidacy will loom large as an issue in the race, regardless of which Republican emerges from the primary on March 5.

Both Theriault and Soboleski are on record as outspoken supporters of President Trump, whereas Golden voted twice in favor of articles of impeachment against the former president.

Soboleski was the only GOP lawmaker who defended Trump during the hearing in which Secretary of State Shenna Bellows attempted to disqualify him from the presidential ballot in Maine.

Moran’s resolution passed with a vote of 225-187.