Speaker Johnson, Biden Discuss Border in Phone Call Amid Funding Negotiations

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Dec. 12, 2023. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and President Joe Biden talked over the phone on Jan. 10 about the southern border amid the crisis happening there.

The call came amid negotiations in the Senate on border security policies tied to an aid package for Ukraine and Israel.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the phone call but did not go into detail.

“Speaker Johnson spoke with President Biden today. The Speaker strongly encouraged the President to use his executive authority to secure the southern border and reiterated the contents of his letter to the President dated December 21, 2023,” posted Raj Shah, Mr. Johnson’s deputy communications director, on X, formerly Twitter.

Like Ms. Jean-Pierre, Mr. Shah did not say more.

In that letter, Mr. Johnson wrote that “the wide-open border has caused unspeakable human tragedy for migrants and certainly for our own citizens” as “countless children and adults have been victims of human trafficking and cartels have been emboldened and enriched” and that “local communities have been devastated and terrorists and dangerous criminals have entered illegally and dispersed across our country.”

Mr. Johnson went on to state, “We are now more vulnerable to a terrorist attack on our homeland than ever.”

Mr. Johnson blamed President Biden’s border policies including catching and releasing into the United States illegal border crossers, which ended the U.S. policy requiring asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico pending the outcome of their case.

He also cited Mr. Biden’s ceasing the building of a border wall. Mr. Johnson wrote that these policies should be reversed.

The conversation between the president and the speaker comes as Senate Democrats and Republicans have been negotiating on a border package. Mr. Johnson wants the Democrat-controlled Senate to pass a border security bill that the GOP-controlled House passed earlier this year.

That is something that has virtually no chance of happening, let alone becoming law. President Biden has said he would veto it.

6 Million Non-Detained Illegal Aliens

A recent report from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows that the number of non-detained illegal aliens inside the United States has exceeded 6 million, up from just over 3 million in 2020, former President Donald Trump’s final year in office.

Also, the total number of known illegal southern border crossings has jumped from around 405,000 in 2020 to 2.1 million in 2023.

Nationwide, the number of illegal immigrant encounters has more than tripled over that period—from 647,000 in President Trump’s final year in office to 3.2 million in President Biden’s third year in the White House.

The conversation between President Biden and Mr. Johnson also comes just days before the first round of government funding is set to expire on Jan. 19 and the remainder on Feb. 2.

The former relates to food safety, housing, and transportation, while the latter surrounds the military, scientific research, and national parks.

While Mr. Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) reached a government funding agreement over the weekend—which has been blessed by President Biden—the conservative Freedom Caucus slammed it in a statement on social media, calling it a “total failure” and “even worse than we thought.”

Some Republicans are calling for shutting down the government.

“Republicans agreeing to spending levels $69 billion higher than last summer’s debt ceiling ‘deal’, with no significant policy wins is nothing but another loss for America,” posted Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), chairman of the Freedom Caucus.

“At some point, having the House majority has to matter. Stop funding this spending with an open border!”

“SHUT DOWN THE BORDER OR SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT,” Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) posted on X.

“Democrats are shamelessly lying to the American people by claiming the border is secure—all while streamlining a criminal invasion. SHUT IT DOWN.”

“If Biden wants funding he must secure the border,” posted Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on X.