Biden and Schumer work to show they can secure Southern border ahead of November elections

WASHINGTON (TND) — New numbers show illegal crossing at the U.S. Southern border decreased by 6% in April. American officials credit the decline to Mexico's increasing enforcement at their own Southern border where migrants from other Central and South American cross on their way to the United States.

Despite the most recent decrease, border security remains a top issue for voters.

With November’s election inching closer, Democrats are refocusing legislative efforts to show they are working to address the problem.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will reportedly bring back the border security bill from earlier this year. GOP lawmakers tanked the bill initially. Schumer could bring it to the floor for a vote as early as next week.

"Most Americans just want to see the border fixed regardless of who does it," Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday. “If both chambers would have voted on our bill without interference I’m confident it would have passed and reached the president’s desk. But, as we all know, Donald Trump swooped in and told his MAGA supporters to kill the bill."

Many Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, say that the bill is deeply flawed and vow to oppose it again.

"Now Chuck Schumer wants to have a show vote on a Democrat bill that is a terrible bill," said Cruz. "This bill, if passed, would make the problem worse. It puts into law Joe Biden’s open borders, codifying catch and release. It gives work permits to illegal immigrants. It gives taxpayer-funded lawyers to illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, over at the White House, President Biden is reportedly planning to take executive action to address the border crisis. According to the New York Post, Biden’s executive order will shut down the U.S.-Mexico border when migrant crossings reach 4,000 a day.

The White House has not commented on the plans.

To modernize the documentation process of the millions of migrants here illegally, the Biden Administration is preparing to roll out a controversial pilot program this summer giving out federal ID cards to migrants.

The idea the federal government would provide valid IDs to people we know are here illegally is ridiculous. If we know they are here illegally we should be deporting them," said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. "It is a further step towards legitimizing what has been an absolute travesty: nine million illegals crossing the border just in the last three years."

Sen. Hawley introduced a bill to block the program, arguing it will only encourage more illegal migration.