GOP pushes border security
Lawmakers turn to new plan
WASHINGTON — House Republicans for months have railed against the Biden administration’s handling of the US border with Mexico, holding hearings, visiting border communities, and promising to advance legislation to clamp down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
But so far, they have failed to unify behind a plan, delaying efforts to pass legislation.
Now they are hoping to change that. Republicans on Wednesday jump-started work on an immigration and border enforcement package that would remake immigration law to make it more difficult to apply for asylum and easier for the federal government to stop migrants from entering the US. It combines proposals from several conservative hardliners into a single bill.
The undertaking comes as Washington is putting a renewed focus on border security, and the plight of thousands of migrants who show up seeking entry into the US, with a looming May deadline that is expected to end a federal COVID-era asylum policy. The hearing also comes as Republicans, more than 100 days into their new House majority, are under political pressure to deliver on a key campaign promise to secure the border.
The Republican legislative package aims to revive a number of policies either enacted or proposed under then-President Donald Trump that restricted asylum rules. They point out that illegal border crossings increased under President Biden and cast the current situation at the border as overrun and dangerous for both migrants seeking safety and border communities.
Democrats on the House Judiciary panel swatted the bill as an extremist proposal that had no chance in the Democraticheld Senate. It has also been criticized by moderate Republicans who would be crucial to it passing the House, where Republicans have a slim 222-213 majority.
“Republicans have chosen a narrow path that imposes extreme pain and hardship on the most vulnerable people while doing nothing to actually solve the problem,” said Representative Jerry Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.
The bill would give the Homeland Security secretary the power to stop migrants from entering the United States if the secretary determines the US has lost “operational control” of the border.
And it would make it more difficult for asylum-seekers to prove in initial interviews that they are fleeing political, religious, or racial persecution, impose a $50 fee on adults who apply for asylum, and require migrants to make the asylum claim at an official port of entry.
The bill would also enact a Trump-era policy that the Biden administration is pursuing, the “safe third country” requirement, which generally denies asylum to migrants who show up at the US southern border without first seeking protection in a country they passed through.
Conservative hardliners who say migrants are taking advantage of the asylum process are backing the bill.
Representative Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, a conservative member of the Freedom Caucus who has pushed aggressive border measures, said the legislation “reflects in a package form basically where we’ve all wanted to head, which is to actually enforce the law.”
“Stop releasing people into the United States who don’t have a legitimate claim to asylum that you need to adjudicate,” he said.
But Roy and Jordan will have to contend with a group of fellow Republicans who have condemned attempts at aggressively limiting asylum claims as cruel and out-of-touch with Latino communities.
Representative Tony Gonzales, a fellow Texas Republican who represents a long portion of the US-Mexico border from El Paso to San Antonio, has emerged as Roy’s foil in the GOP’s border debate. He insists that measures to toughen border enforcement also be coupled with increasing legal immigration, such as work visas.
Moderate House Republicans, like Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, are pushing for “a balanced approach” that would also open up legal immigration. “People want to come here. They work hard. I think they eventually become great citizens,” Bacon said, adding “but what’s going on at the border is a catastrophe.”
The GOP has made inroads with Latino communities in recent years, and while Republican voters from those communities support tougher border enforcement, Latino Republicans also want to see an increase in legal immigration. The Congressional Hispanic Conference, a group of 18 House Republicans, held a bilingual news conference in front of the Capitol on Tuesday to demand a seat at the negotiating table.
“This is what the face of the border crisis looks like,” Gonzales told reporters. “Take a good hard look, because we’re not going to be quiet about it. We’re not going to let others just dictate what happens.”
Afterward, Gonzales suggested the bill being considered by the Judiciary Committee is just one option, and “has a long way to go before it hits primetime.” The Homeland Security Committee, where he holds a seat, is working on its own legislation to increase border enforcement, he said.
The Congressional Hispanic Conference highlighted three policies it wants: designating cartels as terrorist organizations, increasing criminal penalties for people who smuggle fentanyl, and increasing salaries for Customs and Border Protection agents.