The White House statement comes after a week of frantic negotiations in the Senate.

The White House statement comes after a week of frantic negotiations in the Senate.

President Joe Biden on Friday urged Congress to pass a bipartisan bill to address the immigration crisis at the nation’s southern border, saying he would shut down the border the day the bill became law.

“What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said in a statement. “It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”

Biden’s Friday evening statement resembles a ramping up in rhetoric for the administration, placing the president philosophically in the camp arguing that the border may hit a point where closure is needed. The White House’s decision to have Biden weigh in also speaks to the delicate nature of the dealmaking, and the urgency facing his administration to take action on the border — particularly during an election year, when Republicans have used the issue to rally their base.

The president is also daring Republicans to reject the deal as it faces a make-or-break moment amid GOP fissures.

  • @[email protected]
    -17•10 months ago

    They pay sales taxes, sure. But they don’t pay income or property taxes, not without an SSN. (Texas does not have an income tax, but has property taxes. The Feds have an income tax. Don’t be pedantic)

    • Flying Squid
      20•10 months ago

      Sorry… so you’re blaming immigrants for the fact that Texas’ tax regulations are severely fucked up?

      Maybe Texas shouldn’t cater so much of their tax code to rich people? Shouldn’t that be the issue?

      • @[email protected]
        -14•10 months ago

        How is having property tax but not income tax fucked up? How does it cater to rich people, any more than having income tax?

        • Flying Squid
          13•10 months ago

          Texas has one of the lowest state and local tax burdens in America. It also has no state estate or inheritance tax, while 16 states — including Iowa, Kentucky and Maryland — have at least one or both policies. Dick Lavine, a senior fiscal analyst for Every Texan, says high-end homes in Texas also tend to be under-appraised for tax purposes.

          “Texas does not require disclosure of the sales price at which real estate changes hands,” Lavine wrote in an email. “All but 12 states have some form of disclosure.” Large commercial and industrial properties in Texas also tend to be under-appraised, he adds. “In addition to lack of disclosure, large firms often abuse ‘equal and uniform’ appeals to lower their appraisal to the ‘median value of comparable properties,’ regardless of actual market value.”

          https://www.chron.com/politics/article/Texas-income-tax-property-laws-business-owners-16610385.php

          Texas’ tax code is the second most unfair in the US, and the state relies on sales tax and other forms of regressive taxation that fall hardest on those with the least means. Households earning less than about $21,000 pay 13% of their income in taxes on average. The top 1% of households, with income over about $618,000, pay roughly 3% of theirs. Wealthy people also can decide when and if to pay taxes in ways that people who earn wages cannot—for example, by timing when to sell a stock or other financial asset.

          The state’s tax code contributes to extreme levels of wealth inequality. The 66 wealthiest billionaires in Texas own more wealth than 70% of Texans combined. The wealthiest 1% of Texas households own $4.9 trillion, nearly half the state’s total wealth. Black and Latino Texans own much less wealth than they should due to historical and ongoing discrimination.

          https://news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights-and-commentary/texas-wealth-tax-ban-was-a-mistake-other-states-shouldnt-repeat

          https://itep.org/whopays/texas/

          But sure, it’s immigrants that are the tax burden.

        • SaltySalamander
          8•10 months ago

          So you’re suggesting that illegal immigrants should steal identities to pay taxes?

          No bud, we’re suggesting that they already do, because they’re given no other option.

        • @ThunderWhiskers
          5•10 months ago

          No, he’s suggesting that your original statement (the one actually being discussed) is wrong. No one suggested that immigrants SHOULD do anything, especially identity theft. Your whataboutism has no power here. Stop embarrassing yourself.

    • @ThunderWhiskers
      7•10 months ago

      How exactly are you proposing that these people don’t pay property tax?

      I would also wager that the amount of unreported tip income is just as large a problem as undocumented workers from a tax standpoint.