What support did Ted Budd give to Biden era immigration reform?
Executive summary
Senator Ted Budd has consistently opposed the Biden administration’s immigration approach and backed legislation that would reverse or constrain it, sponsoring bills to resume Trump-era wall construction and co-sponsoring measures that tighten asylum and enforcement rules (Senator Budd’s Build the Wall Now Act; co-sponsorship of the Secure Our Border Act) [1] [2]. Budd also joined Republican colleagues on enforcement-focused legislation in the 119th Congress and praised measures that would empower tougher removals and detention (Laken Riley Act) [3].
1. A conservative line: Budd’s legislative priorities on immigration
Ted Budd’s public record frames Biden-era policy as an “open borders” crisis and his proposals aim to counter it with border infrastructure, stricter asylum rules, and heightened enforcement. His first Senate bill was the Build the Wall Now Act, which would restart wall construction within 24 hours, remove legal impediments, and unlock roughly $2.1 billion in previously appropriated funds [1]. He also co-sponsored the Secure Our Border Act, a Senate companion to H.R. 2, that calls for building the wall, raising asylum standards, and increasing Border Patrol staffing [2].
2. Enforcement over legalization: where Budd parts ways with Biden
Budd’s posture is enforcement-first: he emphasizes detention, removal, and criminal penalties rather than legalization or pathways to status that the Biden administration at times sought to expand through executive actions. In the 119th Congress he joined other Republicans in introducing the Laken Riley Act, which would require ICE arrest and detention of noncitizens charged with certain theft crimes and create state standing to sue federal officials who allegedly fail to enforce immigration law—language framed explicitly as undoing “disastrous open‑border policies of Joe Biden” [3].
3. Messaging and political framing: “Biden created the worst border crisis”
Budd’s statements repeatedly cast the Biden administration as responsible for a border crisis, language he used when announcing the Build the Wall Now Act and when co-sponsoring the Secure Our Border Act [1] [2]. This rhetorical frame aligns with conservative groups and some Republican lawmakers who have voiced similar complaints and supported Budd’s measures [4].
4. What Budd supported, and what he didn’t: the substance versus absence
Available sources document Budd’s sponsorship and co‑sponsorship of bills emphasizing walls, asylum tightening, and enforcement [1] [2] [3]. Available sources do not mention Budd supporting Biden administration initiatives that expanded parole programs, humanitarian admissions, or administrative legalization that Migration Policy and others describe as part of Biden’s executive approach [5]. They also do not show Budd voting for bipartisan compromise packages that some analysts described as “the best achievable” in 2024—his record instead shows an effort to reverse or block Biden-era measures [6] [7].
5. How outside groups and partisan coalitions amplified Budd’s bills
Conservative immigration organizations and Republican-aligned commentators praised Budd’s Build the Wall Now Act as a “sensible” use of appropriated funds and as a response to the Biden administration’s border policies [4]. His bills attracted support from a conservative coalition of senators (and groups like the National Border Patrol Council and NumbersUSA for the wall bill), demonstrating that Budd’s proposals were part of a broader Republican strategy rather than isolated gestures [1] [4].
6. Broader context: Biden’s mixed record and the policy tug-of-war
Budd’s actions must be read against a Biden administration that used executive authorities to expand parole, humanitarian admissions, and other administratively-driven programs while facing criticism for irregular migration numbers and for not delivering comprehensive legalization through Congress [5]. Analysts and centers noted both Biden’s modernization efforts and the limits of executive actions absent a congressional fix; Republicans including Budd seized that legislative vacuum to press for rollback and enforcement bills [5] [7].
7. Contradictions and political incentives
Budd’s insistence on structural projects like a border wall and mandatory detention measures serves electoral and ideological audiences who equate physical barriers and strict enforcement with security; think tanks and media outlets described bipartisan talks and compromise proposals as containing provisions that would nevertheless reinstate some Trump-era tools—yet Budd’s proposals largely aim to restore or expand Trump-era approaches rather than pursue bipartisan legalization compromises [6] [7].
8. Limitations and what reporting does not show
Current reporting in the provided sources documents Budd’s bills, co-sponsorships, and public statements [1] [2] [3] but does not provide a roll-call voting record in Congress on specific Biden-era legislative packages nor detailed floor debate transcripts linking Budd to every piece of post‑2021 immigration legislation. For claims beyond the cited press releases and analyses, available sources do not mention them.
Bottom line: Ted Budd positioned himself as a Republican enforcer on immigration—sponsoring wall construction legislation, co-sponsoring bills to tighten asylum and enforcement, and joining colleagues on detention-focused measures—consistently opposing the Biden administration’s executive-driven immigration approaches while aligning with conservative groups and the GOP conference [1] [2] [3].