Kayleigh McEnany Proclaims Biden ‘Decided to Light the Border on Fire,’ Immigration Bill Won’t Help While He’s in Office | Video

Kayleigh McEnany sounded off on President Joe Biden’s border policies during “Outnumbered” on Fox News, saying he’s lit the “border on fire” as a new bipartisan border bill, which the White House issued a statement in support of, awaits action in Congress.

On the latest edition of the panel discussion series McEnany weighed in on the border bill, which was named “The Dignity Act of 2023.” The Senate released the proposal on Sunday, supported by Democrats and a portion of the Republican caucus, though it lacks support in the GOP-controlled House. It seeks to address border-related issues, including strengthening border security, infrastructure and a process for obtaining U.S. legal status, among other items.

McEnany claimed the current longstanding border problem is the result of having a “lawless” president who she feels isn’t standing by previous immigration laws.

“Bottom line here, so much is being said about this bill, we have a derelict, lawless president,” McEnany said. “You just cited some federal laws that our president is choosing not to enforce. We have a president who decided to light the border on fire. That is what he did in his first 100 days, 94 executive actions to roll over, away the Trump-era border policies. We are here not because of a lack of a comprehensive immigration reform, we are here because we have a president who simply doesn’t care. Who enables people coming across our border, who enables the human traffickers.”

The border deal hasn’t set well within some of the GOP, as conservatives and Trump allies have pushed back and called it an “amnesty bill” that “erases” U.S. borders.

“Here’s what the people pushing this ‘deal’ aren’t telling you: It accepts 5,000 illegal immigrants a day and gives automatic work permits to asylum recipients — a magnet for more illegal immigration,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.

However, that statement is untrue, according to fact checkers — the bill would end the practice of “catch and release,” which allows immigrants to remain in the United States while awaiting hearings. Migrants who attempt to illegally cross would be detained immediately.

Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said the Department of Homeland Security would “shut down” the southern border temporarily if there was an average of more than 5,000 migrant crossings per day, over the course of seven days.

McEnany said that a bill won’t make a difference even if it’s put into legislation, as she believes that Biden “disregards the law.”

“Now, Sen. [James] Lankford would say, ‘This puts a mandatory activation requirement on a lawless president,’ so that part is true,” McEnany said. “But we have a president who disregards the law. We have a president who cuts down razor wire in Texas. So until you fix the guy at the top, the executive, Joe Biden, you don’t fix the problem.”

The $118 billion bill would give $20.23 billion for border security, $60.6 billion in funding for Ukraine’s war with Russia, $14.1 billion in security assistance for Israel, $2.44 billion to U.S. Central Command and for the ongoing conflict in the Red Sea and $4.83 billion in aid to U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific as they ward off China.

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