Joseph Sabino Mistick is wrong to blame House Speaker Mike Johnson for putting the brakes on the immigration and border security bill that is tied to Ukraine funding (“Mike Johnson won’t be remembered as one of the greats,” Feb. 17, TribLive). Since taking office in January 2021, President Biden has looked the other way while over 10 million illegal immigrants, large caches of deadly fentanyl and possible unscreened terrorists have come into the United States unrestrained. Border patrols had their hands tied. During these three years, Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Alejandro Mayorkas and others have done nothing to stop it.
Why now is there such a rush to repair the entire broken immigration system with a quickly assembled bipartisan bill tied to funding for Ukraine? The reason is voters in recent Iowa and New Hampshire primaries identified illegal immigration as their No. 1 issue. Biden never envisioned immigrants ending up in sanctuary cities, straining city budgets and resources and making illegal immigration a highly visible national problem. Now he and his party are badly underwater on a major issue in an election year, and he needs help to show or give the illusion that he is doing something about it.
Polls show that U.S. citizens overwhelmingly support legal immigration. A comprehensive remake of the immigration system deserves major study, debate and overhaul, not a quick-fix proposal that reeks of “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” politics. Ukraine funding is important, but its case should be won or lost separate from immigration.
Johnson is right to be skeptical and to withhold his support.
Scott Brown
Greensburg