Rep. Jeffries: Supreme Court Decision Granting Texas Police Power to Arrest and Deport Immigrants Is ‘Deeply Troubling’

PHILLIP: “And good evening, I’m Abby Phillip in Washington tonight. Confusion and chaos reign supreme over the border. Texas is pitted against the feds. Caught in the middle, the migrants, who can now be deported en masse and at will, on a hunch. This is all happening after the Supreme Court waded directly into the heart of the immigration issue today. They scrambled how things typically work, that immigration policy for the United States is the domain of the federal government. And there are profound constitutional questions that this raises. But in the meantime, the practical impact is becoming more clear. Scores of people could be rounded up hundreds of miles from the southern border even based on suspicion and suspicion alone. Local officials, sheriffs, could all be deputized to essentially enforce U.S. border policy. The court’s conservative majority brushed aside a last-ditch Biden Administration push to stop this new Texas law, SB4, and it now goes into effect, at least temporarily, while litigation winds its way through the lower courts. Ultimately, this could ricochet across conservative border states. If allowed to stand, it could usher in dramatic, even draconian policies that leave immigration enforcement at the hands of legislators from Austin to Phoenix. Joining me now, the highest-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries. Congressman, thank you for staying up for us tonight. First of all, the Supreme Court delivering this win for Texas and a loss for the Biden Administration, what do you think the impact of all of this is going to be?”
Jeffries: “Good evening, great to be with you. It’s a deeply troubling decision from the extreme conservatives on the Supreme Court. It’s clear that we have a broken immigration system. We’ve acknowledged that, and that we need to address the challenges at the border. We believe that we should address those challenges in a clear-eyed, comprehensive way, in a manner consistent with our values as a nation of immigrants and a nation anchored in the rule of law. We need a strong, secure and humane border. What we are seeing from many of our Republican colleagues is that they don’t want to actually address the issue. They just want to engage in political stunts or try not to solve the issue so they can weaponize the border and immigration issue in November. I think the American people are going to reject that, but what the Supreme Court has done in this particular instance is quite unfortunate.”
PHILLIP: “As you know, Congress has tried to a degree and failed to get immigration done, even in this Congress. Do you think that the chances of something being revived this year are over?”
Jeffries: “Well, as House Democrats, we’ve made clear that we are already willing and able to find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues on any issue, including fixing our broken immigration system and addressing the challenges at the border. President Biden has made clear that he wants to work together to try to find bipartisan solutions to fix the challenges that we have at the border. One of the big challenges, of course, is that many Republicans don’t want to address the issue, they want to weaponize the issue politically, that’s the height of their responsibility. But hope springs eternal and let’s see what happens over the next few months.”
PHILLIP: So, not ruling it out there, notably. I want to turn to the issue of funding the government. Congressional negotiators have finally gotten to a deal to fund the government through the fall. It seems likely that Democrats will have to help the Republican majority in the House get this across the finish line. Are you advising your members to support this compromise?”
Jeffries: “Well, tomorrow morning, we’ll meet as a Democratic caucus. We’ll hear presentations from the —“