Well into the second month of ‘backroom’ negotiations between Senators of both parties and the Administration, America is still waiting to see any text of the bipartisan immigration bill. The proponents of a deal are urging everyone to reserve their opinions until after reading the (nonexistent) bill. Meanwhile, they are appearing on news shows spinning a narrative and indicating they want to rush this bill to the floor once introduced. With unanimous opposition from conservative groups and House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) refusal to entertain a vote on it in the House, it seems this deal has no chance of survival.
Immigration and border security have proven to be two of the toughest issues for Congress. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) chose Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) who is chair of the House Values Action Team, to lead the negotiations for the Republicans. While he is great on social issues, he has never been known as a leader on immigration reform. It appears that he has brokered a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (who is up for impeachment in the House for not enforcing current laws), and President Joe Biden. Sadly, Republican leadership and Senator Lankford did not insist on starting negotiations with the House-passed H.R. 2, a strong border security proposal, but instead appeared to have allowed the very people who created the border crisis to call the shots. What a recipe for disaster!
Biden has already agreed to sign whatever deal comes out of the Senate. This means he will get some, if not all, of his $13 billion request for immigration. These funds will not be used to secure the border but to process more illegals for release into the country. Included in this amount is $1.3 billion for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide services for illegals (but not deportation), $4.5 billion to reimburse sanctuary cities for local funds spent to feed and house illegals (but not deportation), and $48.1 million to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to assist in the trafficking of unaccompanied minors (but not protecting minors by prosecuting traffickers). Such a high price would undermine the Johnson-Schumer spending levels agreed upon just a few weeks ago, (even without the additional aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan that will be part of any supplemental deal) and do nothing to actually secure our nation’s borders.
The President explained that he would have a “new” emergency authority under this bill to shut down the border once crossings exceed 5,000 illegal immigrants per day for seven days. But the agreement allows waivers that could bump that number up to 8,500 illegals crossing per day! In reality, the President could shut down the border right now if he desired. Current law allows for the President to suspend entry if it “would be detrimental to the country’s interests for periods as they shall seem necessary” (8 U.S.C. § 1182(f)). Additionally, border patrol can remove any alien not seeking asylum (8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1)(A)(i)). If we cannot trust him or his administration to enforce the laws now, what makes anyone think the Biden Administration will comply with the new bill?
Fortunately, Speaker Johnson has rebuffed the deal from the beginning. This week, he said:
From Texas to New York, waves of illegal immigrants are now overwhelming our communities. Just since the time I was elected Speaker less than 100 days ago, more than 700,000 illegals have been welcomed into our country illegally by the Biden administration. American schoolchildren have been forced into virtual schools. Why? So migrants can sleep in their school buildings. Korean War veterans of the US have been booted from nursing homes that were sold to house migrants. Our streets are being flooded with fentanyl. Hundreds of thousands of children and adults are being poisoned and losing their lives. Vulnerable children and women are being exploited and trafficked by cartels.
Anything higher than zero is surrendering our border, surrendering our sovereignty and our security. And it’s important to point out and I want to make this very clear.
During this unnecessary fight, the states are suffering the most. Due to inaction by the federal government Texas has decided to secure its southern border. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed federal agents to cut through barbed wire that the state installed to keep illegal aliens out. Now Texas residents and truckers are assembling at the border to make their voices heard. To bolster this effort, twenty-five Governors have joined a statement of support for Governor Greg Abbott. The statement reads:
We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border, Because the Biden Administration has abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has every legal justification to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation.
Senate Republicans have options to work toward better border security whether it’s using the House-passed Secure the Border Act (H.R. 2) for the basis of negotiations or holding the Biden administration accountable for regulatory and executive actions. Allowing and encouraging thousands of illegal immigrants a day to infiltrate the U.S. puts the lives of illegal immigrants at risk, fosters the importation of dangerous drugs, allows known terrorists and suspected bad actors to enter, and overwhelms our economy and public services. We must demand Congress act to secure our border not open the floodgates further.