Labor Secretary Walsh warns of economic ‘catastrophe’ if Congress doesn’t pass immigration reform
Administration has pushed for reform, including amnesty, since last year
Labor secretary argues 'none' of the price pressures caused by Biden admin
FOX Business' Edward Lawrence speaks with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh following the release of the July employment report.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is claiming that it will be a "bigger catastrophe" for the economy if Congress does not pass a bipartisan "comprehensive immigration reform" package — something the Biden administration has been calling for since entering office.
"We need a bipartisan fix here," Walsh told CNBC. "I’ll tell you right now, if we don’t solve immigration ... we’re talking about worrying about recessions, we’re talking about inflation. I think we’re going to have a bigger catastrophe if we don’t get more workers into our society, and we do that by immigration."
The Biden administration entered office calling for a sweeping immigration bill — including expanded legal immigration pathways as well as mass amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the country — but efforts failed due to a lack of Republican support. Republicans balked at the lack of border security provisions and also the timing of passing an amnesty as a border crisis roiled the U.S. border.
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Immigration rights activists hold a rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Nov. 12, 2019. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
That crisis has only escalated since then with more than 2.3 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2022 alone. Republican leaders have ruled out amnesty and said that the border must be secured first.
Democrats in Congress attempted to go it alone last year by pushing a budget reconciliation package that included various forms of amnesty, but ultimately the effort failed after being ruled ineligible by the parliamentarian and the pulling of support by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
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But the administration, from Vice President Kamala Harris to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, have kept pushing immigration reform efforts. Harris said last month that there was "no question" that a pathway to citizenship for millions was a top priority.
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"We also have to put into place a law and a plan for a pathway for citizenship for the millions of people who are here and are prepared to do what is legally required to gain citizenship," she said.
In recent weeks, Democrats and the White House have been pushing for more limited pathways in the wake of a court ruling last week that kept the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on ice.
Walsh, in the interview, said businesses are pushing for more workers amid a tight labor market, but he acknowledged how Republicans are focused on the border crisis.
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"One party is showing pictures of the border, and meanwhile if you talk to businesses that support those congressional folks, they’re saying we need immigration reform," Walsh said. "Every place I’ve gone in the country and talked to every major business, every small business, every single one of them is saying we need immigration reform."
"We need comprehensive immigration reform," he continued. "They want to create a pathway for citizenship into our country, and they want to create better pathways for visas in our country."