President-elect Joe Biden has been slammed for saying that presenting an amnesty bill for people living in the country illegally would be a top priority when he takes office, rather than focusing on the COVID pandemic.
'I am going to make a commitment in the first 100 days, I will send a immigration bill to the United States Senate with a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people in America,' Biden said in an interview with NBC News on Tuesday.
Newly-elected congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, a Staten Island Republican, blasted the statement in an interview with Fox News guest host Mark Steyn on Wednesday night.
'It is disheartening that this is his focus. It's not providing relief to the millions of American that are struggling right now, during this pandemic,' said Malliotakis, who unseated incumbent Democratic Rep. Max Rose in the district representing Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn.
Representative Nicole Malliotakis, a New York Republican, blasted the statement in an interview with Fox News guest host Mark Steyn on Wednesday night
'I am going to make a commitment in the first 100 days, I will send a immigration bill to the United States Senate with a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people in America,' Biden said in an interview with NBC News on Tuesday
'It's not insuring that we help those small businesses that are hanging on by a thread due to government restrictions and mandated shutdowns. It's not how are we going to get this vaccine distributed to our front-line workers and our most vulnerable across the states,' she continued.
'It is actually a policy that would help the citizens of other countries and not Americans. And it's very sad that he wants to dismantle the policies put in place by President Trump that have been effective in stemming the tide of illegal immigration,' said Malliotakis.
Malliotakis criticized Biden for other prior statements he has made, indicating he wants to suspend deportations and halt any work on the southern border wall.
'He is going to get a fight from the Republicans in Congress, who are very much pleased with the progress we've made under President Trump and don't want to unravel that,' she vowed.
Malliotakis, a New York native, is the daughter of immigrant parents, born to a Greek father and Cuban mother.
Malliotakis, a New York native, is the daughter of immigrant parents, born to a Greek father and Cuban mother. She defeated incumbent Democrat Rep. Max Rose in the election
In his interview on Tuesday, Biden also indicated that climate change would be a priority in his first 100 days, as well as speeding federal financial assistance to state and local governments.
In a Fox News panel on The Ingraham Angle, guest hosted by Tammy Bruce, conservative commentators piled on Biden's remarks about his top priorities.
Pete Hegseth slammed Biden's priorities for his first 100 days as 'open borders and amnesty, climate shaming with John Kerry running around the world in his jets, and then bailouts for blue states.'
'He is the vehicle for the left... he has a list of things he needs to pay out to begin with,' said Hegseth, a Fox & Friends weekend co-host.
'This is about America Last,' chimed in podcast host Sara Carter. 'This is putting America last and putting globalism forward.'
Conservative commentators (left to right) Tammy Bruce, Sara Carter, Lara Logan and Pete Hegseth also panned Biden's priorities for his first 100 days in a Fox News panel
Biden has pledged to undo many of Trump's restrictive immigration policies. The hundreds of planned changes could take months or years to implement.
On the first day of his presidency, Biden intends to rescind Trump's travel bans targeting people from 13 countries - most of them either majority-Muslim or African nations.
Biden also plans to revive the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program put in place in 2012 by Obama that offered protections to immigrants living in the United States illegally after entering as children.
Trump sought to rescind the DACA program but was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.
Biden's nominee for secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas (above), was cheered by pro-immigrant activists
Biden's nominee for secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, was cheered by pro-immigrant activists.
Mayorkas, a Cuban immigrant, would become the first Latino and first foreign-born leader of the sprawling department, which oversees Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
'When I was very young, the United States provided my family and me a place of refuge,' Mayorkas wrote on Twitter following the announcement.
'Now, I have been nominated to be the DHS Secretary and oversee the protection of all Americans and those who flee persecution in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones.'
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