The Title 42 policy, even if it remains in place, is "at its best a very weak Band-Aid" to protect the border, but it will help until new plans and legislation come forward, Rep. Jeff Van Drew said on Newsmax Saturday while commenting on the Supreme Court's ruling to keep the Trump-era policy in place while legal battles continue.
"It's better than nothing," the New Jersey Republican said on Newsmax's "America Right Now." "We really need new policies, new legislation and better legislation. We need a brick-and-mortar wall. We need more border police. We need to have technology there to stop all this. We need to have negotiations with Mexico and others to make sure that we have a policy where they stay in Mexico or are immediately expedited back to Mexico."
And, Van Drew added, "we need a president and a vice president who will actually go there and see what's going on and fight to make this whole issue better."
The Title 42 restrictions were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic to control border entries, and Van Drew said he doesn't think the same emergency situation is at play now; but still, he said, he'd "rather have it than nothing at all."
"This is at its very best a Band-Aid, but it's better than no Band-Aid at all," he said, adding that President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas must also be more committed to border security.
Instead, Biden said "it just really wasn't that important to him," said Van Drew. "What's important to him is he's in the Caribbean, enjoying a wonderful, warm vacation and probably eating his ice cream cones quickly enough so they won't fall all over him ... I mean, if this is not important, I don't know what is."
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who will be the next House majority leader, has announced a few immigration bills; and Van Drew said he would like to see his colleagues focus on the issue with a push for more Border Patrol and more funding for a wall that includes technology and electronic surveillance methods.
He added that he also wants "immediate discussions to begin with Mexico and other countries to immediately expedite people back, no more catch and release."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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