Capito: Biden action on border should have come 'several years ago'

President Joe Biden’s new executive order on immigration should have been put in place years ago, said U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., on Tuesday.

The executive order is the Biden administration “putting on a face” that gives the appearance of “finally” taking action, Capito said during a U.S. Senate Republican Leadership press conference.

“The president should have been doing what he’s doing today several years ago to stop the flow,” she said.

Capito touched on a recent stop in Finland she made as part of a congressional delegation.

“Finland has an 800-mile border with Russia. And guess what they did? They shut down their border,” she said. “Russia was sending plants and scurrilous individuals to get into Finland and then into Europe and then into wherever they want to stir up trouble.”

Finland secured its border by building a wall, Capito said.

“It’s a metal wall; it’s about 15 feet high; it’s got wire on the top; it’s got all kinds of security, cameras; it’s got a road right by it,” the senator said. “They cut the trees down and everything to secure their border. They shut down the entry points, and guess what? Nobody is entering Finland on that border.”

Finland is an example of a workable, secure border policy, Capito said.

“I think the President maybe ought to take a trip over to Finland and see exactly how they’re doing it and how effective it is and how it could be used here in the United States to move forward with our legal immigration and make sure that that the flow stops,” she said.

The new immigration policy, announced by the White House on Tuesday, would effectively close the U.S. southern border with Mexico when daily illegal entry numbers hit 2,500. The border would then remain closed until the average number of illegal border crossings falls below 1,500 for seven consecutive days.

“President Biden believes we must secure our border,” reads a fact sheet released by the White House. “That is why today, he announced executive actions to bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum. These actions will be in effect when high levels of encounters at the Southern Border exceed our ability to deliver timely consequences, as is the case today. They will make it easier for immigration officers to remove those without a lawful basis to remain and reduce the burden on our Border Patrol agents.”