Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., has accused the Biden administration of "paying lip service" to the immigration crisis, saying she wants to "shut down the southern border."
Mace made the comments Wednesday, the same day that a delegation, that included Antony Blinken, dispatched by President Joe Biden met with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on how to address the crisis at the border.
"Blinken's visit to Mexico is all about paying lip service to this issue," Mace told Fox Business Network in an interview.
House Speaker Mike Johnson sent a letter to Biden last week urging him to take executive action to stem the flow of migrants at the border. Instead, Biden sent a delegation consisting of Secretary of State Blinken, Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
"We are seeing independents, Republicans, and Democrats getting very angry about what they're seeing at the border, and on some days, we have more people crossing the southern border in one day than we do all year from our northern border," Mace said. "This is a massive, massive problem for the Biden administration, and they refuse to address it."
Mace's comments came a day before former President Donald Trump blasted Biden for the "out of control" southern border. They also come as a caravan of roughly 8,000 migrants is making its way to the U.S. border.
Mace and congressional Republicans have tied aid for Israel and Ukraine to immediate border policy changes from the Biden administration. Biden said earlier this month he was willing to make "significant" compromise on border security in exchange for passing a $105 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, as well as border security.
"Republicans had better in both chambers — the Senate and the House — make sure we have our own border security as priority No. 1 before we start doling out any other dollars to any other country," Mace said.
However, Senate-led negotiations before the Christmas recess didn't reach a deal, one that Republicans insist must include HR 2, the Republican-passed bill that changes immigration law by imposing limits on asylum eligibility while requiring employers to verify the employment eligibility of new workers.
"I don't want lip service to 20 more miles of wall," said Mace, referring to Biden's approval in October to renew wall construction on a section of border wall in the Rio Grande Valley sector.
"I want to shut down the southern border. I want to have laws that we follow, and that needs to happen, and I hope that is the No. 1 priority when we go back and reconvene for session in January," Mace said.