White House To Override Major Law

President Joe Biden has already dropped the hammer on a new bill that the House GOP will likely pass this week that is focused on beefing up border security.

On Monday, the White House said the president would veto the new bill that the House-led GOP will vote on this week that would seek to restrict asylum in the country, remove a program that allows all migrants to stay in the U.S. while they’re awaiting hearings, and continue to build sections of former President Donald Trump’s infamous border wall.

The GOP members of the House are seeking to move forward with immigration bills as there are expected to be more surges at the southern border with Mexico this week, as the COVID-19 restrictions that were in place allowing authorities to remove migrants quickly from the country are about to expire.

The House may vote on the measure – called the Secure the Border Act – on Thursday. That’s also the day the COVID-19 restrictions are set to expire. A major wave of migrants has already come to the border since Biden entered the White House, and many administration officials are preparing for a bigger surge once these restrictions end.

The bill put forth by the GOP would not only build hundreds of miles of barriers on sections of the border, but it’ll push beyond the initial efforts that Trump put forward with his border wall.

It’s likely that the bill will pass through the House, where the GOP has a slight edge, though it’s not a guarantee. Even if it does, it likely won’t pass through the Senate, where Democrats hold a slight majority.

Despite this, Biden wanted to send a direct message to House GOP members, letting them know that their bill stands no chance of getting signed into law. Should Biden actually get a chance to veto the law, it could only be overturned and become law should both chambers of Congress override the president’s veto by a two-thirds majority.

While the White House has consistently said that it’s Congress that needs to significantly and quickly act to fix the major problems at the border, it said this week that the House GOP bill isn’t the way to go about doing that.

A statement released by the White House Office of Management and Budget said:

“While we welcome Congress’ engagement on meaningful steps to address immigration and the challenges at the border, this bill would make things worse, not better. Because this bill does very little to actually increase border security while doing a great deal to trample on the nation’s core values and international obligations, it should be rejected.”

The Biden administration has tried to act on its own, since there hasn’t been any legislation just yet. Stricter border enforcement will soon go into place.

Other policy shifts from the White House include giving migrants a better avenue to apply for asylum, assuming they come to the U.S. legally in the first place, make sure they get a sponsor and also pass all required background checks.