On Thursday, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) stated that President Joe Biden has shifted on immigration policy and the immigration situation “has gotten worse in the last three years” and that while lots of that doesn’t have anything to do with Biden, “he could step up and deal with it. That’s what he’s trying to do now. We can argue about whether or not he should have done it sooner.”
During an interview on “NewsNation Now,” Smith said, “I think the President and all of us have recognized the challenge. Now, we need to recognize, a huge part of this is all of the people who are coming from other parts of the world because of the disastrous conditions there. 7 million people have fled Venezuela, and we’ve got a huge challenge, not just in the U.S., but all up and down Latin America. So, there’s that. And the President has recognized that. I think the reason he’s shifting on this is we need a policy shift to address that problem. And yes, there are some on the left of the Democratic Party who won’t support those changes. But the President’s made it very clear he’s willing to advance the right policy even in the face of that criticism.”
Later, while Smith was on the Fox News Channel’s “Your World,” host Neil Cavuto asked [relevant exchange begins around 4:05] “Congressman, you talk about Donald Trump and you question his motives here, but while even some of his detractors say the perfect thing might be in the eye of the beholder, the whole border thing was a lot better and more secure when he was in office. And they hearken back to that as a failure on the part of this President that he’s only belatedly paid attention, largely because guys like you and others have said, what we’ve got here is a big problem. Do you fault this President for missing the boat on this and then only belatedly only now responding?”
Smith responded, “Two things: That will be litigated in the fall. And certainly, you can make that argument. President Biden’s in charge. We have a border crisis. He has responsibility for that. There’s no doubt about it. Now, certainly, when you come out the other side of the pandemic, when you see what’s happened in Venezuela, the problem has gotten worse in the last three years for a lot of reasons that don’t have anything to do with Joe Biden being President. But yes, he could step up and deal with it. That’s what he’s trying to do now. We can argue about whether or not he should have done it sooner. I want to do it now so we can actually address the policy issue going forward.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
