Republicans raise 'grave concerns' with Biden immigration order

A group of Republican senators raised "grave concerns" to President Biden about his recent move to allow certain undocumented immigrants who are spouses and children of U.S. citizens to stay in the country and work legally.

In a letter to Biden dated June 21, the GOP lawmakers wrote that Biden's latest immigration relief "directly contravenes the laws Congress has passed" and "will throw fuel on the fire of the ongoing border crisis."

The lawmakers called on Biden to rescind the sweeping immigration relief, which expands the regularization program known as parole in place that allows a foreign national who entered the U.S. without authorization to stay for a period of time. Parole in place is typically granted on case-by-case basis.

Around half a million spouses of U.S. citizens and about 50,000 noncitizen children under the age of 21 could be eligible for this program.

The letter was penned by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and 15 other Republicans.

"We have previously challenged the legality of your Administration’s parole authority and have sought to reform this authority to ensure that decisions regarding parole are restored to Congress’ original intent – 'on a case-by-case basis' to aliens who are not already present in the U.S.," the lawmakers wrote.

"Under your Administration, the parole authority has been unlawfully used to circumvent screening and vetting, mass parole of illegal aliens after the cartels surge caravans at the border, and to circumvent normal refugee processing," the letter added.

The lawmakers called Biden's policies regarding the U.S. southern border border "reckless" and criticized his rolling back of some past border measures, which they claimed "invited the chaos" at the border.

"This week’s action doubles down on your Administration’s message to the world that the America will not enforce the law at the southern border," the lawmakers wrote. "Border security is national security, and our adversaries will continue to take advantage of the chaos your Administration created by announcing this policy."

The Hill reached out to the White House for comment.

The letter follows a series of Republicans slamming Biden's move last week.

Former President Trump said he would reverse Biden's order if reelected and accused the president of "using" the migrants.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) accused Biden of attempting to shore up voters ahead of November.

“That’s their game plan. Get as many registered to vote as they can,” he told The Hill last week. “They don’t care about citizens; they don’t care about these people. They’re just looking for voters, and they’re trying [to] do as much as they can before the next election because they’re seeing the writing on the wall.”

Republicans in Congress have repeatedly criticized Biden over his border policies, arguing his actions have contributed to a mass influx of migrants entering the U.S. at the southern border.

Earlier this month, Biden issued a separate executive order that gives the White House additional authority to restrict the flow of migrants and permits border officials to turn away migrants at the southern border when the seven-day average of daily border crossings exceeds 2,500 between ports of entry.

Republicans similarly criticized that order, arguing it does not include several long-sought border security measures demanded by the GOP.