You have to concede that immigration is a vulnerability for the Biden campaign.

Can't you concede that? Look, what we concede is that President Biden is working on this issue and that Republicans in the House are playing political games and doing Donald Trump's bidding so that no real results get done.

They are living in la la land. It's a disaster, and they know it's a disaster.

Principal Deputy of the Biden campaign and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia. In tonight's Common Ground segment here to discuss bipartisan efforts on immigration reform. Michigan Democratic Congresswoman, Hillary Scoulton, and Florida Republican Congresswoman Maria Salazar. Thank you both for being here.

Thanks to you.

Thanks for having us, Brett.

Congresswoman Scoulton, I want to talk to you first. I want to talk about your bipartisan effort on this Dignity Act and what exactly that is. You both have sponsored that, co-sponsored that. But I want to first talk about the issue. The Senate leaders, House leaders are talking at the White House, trying to find some common ground on this supplemental. But talking about it has been tough for the Biden campaign, as we just saw. Are you concerned about Democrats, particularly on the issue of immigration, and how they talk about it?

I really am. I think Democrats need to own the fact that immigration is at a crisis level in this country. It's an economic crisis. It's a humanitarian crisis. Crisis. It is a national security emergency, and we need to address it as such. The only way to do that is a bipartisan path forward.

You all are both working on this Bipartisan Dignity Act, $25 billion to secure the border and catch and release, expedite asylum processing, criminal background checks, restitution, mandatory E-Verify for employment, year-round H-2A farm-ranch worker visas. Congresswoman Salazar, why is this important, and how does it track differently than what's happening up there?

It's very important because it's the only bill in Congress that is bipartisan. And not only that, it accomplishes exactly what the country needs, to seal the border, secure the border. And once that is done, once that border is secured, then we look back and we give some type of dignity to those people who have been here for more than five years who are contributing with your economy. Like my colleague said, this is dignity is not an immigration reform law. This is a national security, it's an economic bill because you know that the business sector is saying, We need hands. Those hands are here. We just need to legalize them. I'm not talking about citizenship. I'm talking about dignity, not amnesty, dignity.

This bill has the only bipartisan support. I just want to underscore that. There have been a number of resolutions, a number of bills put forward. This is the only bipartisan bill in Congress right now.

Right. That's important to distinguish. Congresswoman Salazar, this is different from HR2, which did pass the House.

Is not. Is... Dignity has the same provisions as HR2, because HR2 is basically secure the border and end catch and release. We're ending catch and release with something called humanitarian centers.

I've worked on immigration issues as an attorney for close to two decades now. I was an attorney at the United States Department of Justice, enforcing our nation's immigration laws at the highest law enforcement agency, the Department of Justice. I've seen what works, and I see what doesn't. We have to address some of these root causes, interior enforcement. What is causing this flow?

Humanitarian campuses are five campuses along the border. If you are coming in like millions right now, claiming asylum, we're going to put you in there in a humanitarian fashion for 60 days. And in 60 days, we're going to tell you whether you really have the claims for asylum, and we're going to give you the asylum, or you have to go back home. No one is going to get lost in the country.

Expedited processing is an essential component of due process. For now, individuals wait years to hear about their cases.

They're lost in the country. No one can find them, or they don't go back to their court day.

Congresswoman Sulton, the Biden administration did change some things done by executive order. The remain in Mexico policy, the catch and release policy. Those are changes that didn't require Congress to weigh in. The Biden administration did them on their own. I guess my question to you is, how many Democrats are signing on to this Dignity Act? Why is it so hard to get Democrats to realize the difference in the two administrations, the last two, dealing with this issue?

We need to realize we are never, Republican or Democrat, going to get every single thing that we want. That's what compromise is all about. That's why we've come together to say, Hey, we recognize this isn't a perfect bill, but it is a really good bill that solves the crux of the issues that is facing our country when it comes to this immigration.

Councilman Salazar, let me just ask, there are people in the Republican side that want all of it, and they're not going the 80% or 70% like your Dignity Act has bipartisan support. They would like HR2 passed as it is. What do you tell them?

Well, that at some point, they would have to face reality because as Hillary was saying, you cannot is the art of the possible, right? That's politics. And that's why we're showing this great bipartisan between both of us and another 30 sponsors. We have to solve the problem. We're not going to be able to get everything. We have to solve the problem and catch and release and give some type of dignity or some answers to those people who are illegal because we need those hands. And my party and her party need to come to that realization. And you We're just here waiting for them, both parties, to understand and say, Okay, guys, then you got the solution. It's just a waiting game, unfortunately. But in the meantime, you have millions of more illegals coming in. As a Hispanic representing the largest minority in the country, What's happening at the border is the worst thing that could happen to us. We don't want those people. We want those people.

By the way, last word here, Congresswoman Scoulton. We should point out you're from a border state, too. There's 189,000 encounters at the northern border. That's 6,100 people from 76 different countries. Now, it doesn't match the Southern border, 10,000 a week, but it's still coming in.

Yeah, it is. Michigan is a border state, but I think also as a Midwest state, one of the One of the things that I like to point out is this is an issue that is impacting every state, every city across the country, because the broken immigration system is impacting families, it's impacting businesses, it's impacting our local law enforcement who are bearing the burden of enforcing our federal immigration laws because Congress hasn't done its job. We're trying to solve that. We're trying to solve that. We've done it. We've done the job. We've done it together and we have a solution. What this is is a strong step forward. I I think it's really important for people to remember, we haven't had a comprehensive fix to our immigration system in decades.

In 37 years since Ronald Reagan, a Republican. That's right.

That's changed, right? It's the time to act.

I can see how you're both passionate about it, and we appreciate your time on Common Ground, and hopefully more of your colleagues will come join us and talk about what they're doing.Thank you.Thank.

You.thank you.Thank you for having us. That's right. Thanks for the opportunity.

You bet. You can see all the Common Ground segments on my podcast, Common Ground. Find that in the All Star Panel podcast under the Brett Baer podcast at foxnewspodcast. Com, Spotify, or wherever you download a podcast. You can also see the whole extended discussion on the Fox News YouTube page.