Grand Rapids Reporter

U.S. Representative Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.) has acknowledged a crisis at the southern border, attributing the lack of resolution to House Republicans' failure to propose bipartisan solutions. Scholten represents Michigan's 3rd Congressional District.

Scholten stated, "There's a crisis at the border," adding that "It's decades in the making & demands immediate action." She further criticized her Republican colleagues saying, "This week, House Rs could have put forward any number of bipartisan options to secure our border & bring our immigration system into the 21st century," and lamented, "They did not."

According to information available on Scholten's website, she is a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney who holds a law degree from the University of Maryland. Her prior experience includes clerking for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit with a focus on immigration issues. The district she represents encompasses Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Grand Haven along with suburbs, farmland, and Lake Michigan shoreline.

Screenshot of post on X | https://twitter.com/RepScholten/status/1752746665230946304

ABC News reports that the Senate is currently working towards a bipartisan deal on border issues which also includes aid packages for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The proposed deal crafted by Senators Lankford, Murphy, and Sinema contains provisions to close down the border if migrant crossings exceed 5,000 per day. However, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has dismissed this bill as being "dead on arrival" in the House. Johnson said in his statement that "President Biden falsely claimed yesterday he needs Congress to pass a new law to allow him to close the southern border, but he knows that is untrue."

Johnson has previously asserted that President Biden possesses executive authority to address border security issues. He stated that "President Biden can begin to secure the border by ending catch-and-release, ceasing exploitation of parole authority, reinstating the Remain in Mexico program, expanding the use of expedited removal authority, and renewing construction of the border wall."

As per the U.S. House of Representatives' Clerk's office, in May 2023, Scholten voted against the Secure the Border Act of 2023 or H.R. 2 which was introduced by U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.). Scholten's vote aligned with her Democrat colleagues in opposition to the bill.

Congress.gov reveals that this bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to resume construction on the border wall and grants statutory authorization for Operation Stonegarden, allocating funds for specific border security operations. It also restricts entry processing for non-U.S. nationals between ports of entry and limits asylum eligibility to those arriving at designated ports.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics indicate that there were a combined 4.1 million Southwest border encounters in FY2021 and FY2022, compared to 458,088 encounters in FY2020.

In May, Scholten released a statement explaining her opposition to H.R. 2 which she termed as "counterproductive legislation." She said that "we need to create a commonsense plan that protects our borders, strengthens our workforce, provides sufficient pathways to citizenship, and addresses the root causes of migration."