Biden enlists local officials to revive immigration deal

Asylum seekers board a bus en route to a shelter at Port Authority Bus Terminal on May 18, 2023, in New York City. President Joe Biden said Monday cities need more federal support to deal with an influx of migrants. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday urged local officials to lobby their members of Congress to pass the bipartisan border security deal struck in the Senate that Republicans walked away from this year.

In a brief speech touting the administration’s accomplishments to more than 2,000 mayors, city officials and other advocates in Washington for the National League of Cities’ Congressional Cities Conference, Biden said cities needed more federal support to deal with a surge of newly arrived migrants.

“It has the funds that many of our cities badly need,” Biden said of the bipartisan border security bill . “Tell your members in Congress to show up, show a little spine, and pass the bipartisan border security bill.”

Cities such as New York, Chicago and Denver have had their resources stretched following bus arrivals of migrants sent from GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott without warning to Democrat-led cities. Many local officials have pressed the administration for aid and supported that bipartisan bill that would have overhauled immigration policy, especially at the southern border.

At the behest of GOP presidential front-runner Donald J. Trump, who has campaigned on fears of immigration at the southern border and was against the bill, congressional Republicans last month dropped their initial support .

Biden’s speech mainly focused on promoting the federal funding for state and local governments his administration championed in several major laws Congress passed since Biden took office. Those laws include the American Rescue Plan that provided pandemic-related economic assistance, the bipartisan infrastructure law and a law to spur investment in semiconductor manufacturing.

He rattled off a list of bridges that are being updated and repaired with funding from the infrastructure law, such as the Brent Spence Bridge that connects Kentucky and Ohio.

As the president gears up for the November election, he laid out to conference attendees how he wants to continue working in a bipartisan manner and strengthen the economy, including by building more housing.

“Every family deserves a place to call home, a place to have your American dreams come true,” Biden said.

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