Top House Democrat on Biden immigration policy: ‘We should have the border more secure than it was’

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) on Sunday said immigration policy could have been “more secure” during the Biden administration while weighing in on lawmakers’ current impasse on reform at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“The Biden administration did not do immigration enforcement the way it should have. We should have the border more secure than it was,” Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Fox News Sunday.”

“But there’s plenty of room between that policy, between the radical left policy you keep talking about, you know, open borders and all that. And having, you know, masked unidentified ICE agents show up. No probable cause,” he added.

Citizens remain subject to a partial government shutdown over ICE funding and tactics, although the Senate approved a funding package for other agencies housed under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the weekend.

House Republicans rejected the bill and countered with an eight-week funding package that would fully fund DHS. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said  the bill is “dead on arrival.”

For weeks, Democrats refused to fund DHS, holding firm to their demands to have ICE agents use judicial warrants, implement body-worn cameras and remove face coverings. 

President Trump and other Republicans have argued that masks prevent agents from being doxxed.

The debate over immigration reform stemmed from the death of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration authorities in Minneapolis, Minn., earlier this year.

On Sunday, Smith said lawmakers must find a middle ground between two extremes on immigration policy and work to fund the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). 

“And we can have that debate and fund TSA if Mike Johnson would just let us vote on what every single senator, including Senator [Tom] Cotton [R-Ala.], by the way, supported out of the Senate…,” Smith told host Shannon Bream.

“There’s no reason not to pay TSA while we’re having that other debate. And that’s what we ought to be doing,” he added.

Airports across the country have been rattled by low TSA staffing levels, leading to longer security lines. Trump sent ICE agents to several airports to help ease the growing burden spawned from TSA worker call-outs, which have raised concerns for Democrats. 

Trump said ICE agents would remain present at airports for “as long as it takes.”

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