What Biden inherited was a situation in which immigration restrictions were in place under Title 42 of the Public Health Act which authorizes the government to restrict entry into the country when a public health emergency is in effect.
These restrictions were put into place in March 2020 by the Trump Administration in response to the declaration of a COVID Public Health Emergency.
When Biden ended the COVID Public Health Emergency on May 11, 2023, the authority to continue the Trump-era restrictions ended. Many people thought that Biden actually kept the COVID public health emergency declaration in place for far too long.
Would you rather see the Biden Administration extend the COVID public health emergency indefinitely or permanently and claim all the expansive executive powers that go along with a declaration of a public health emergency? That seems to be the horror scenario of many conservatives who oppose such unlimited executive authority. As I recall, that was what that silly trucker convoy was about back in 2022.
Or would you rather that Congress replace those powers with new ones specifically limited to immigration? Which is exactly what this new legislation does?