GOP must pass immigration law, stop giving Dems cover
House Republicans have a problem. Immigration issues are top of mind to voters in the upcoming elections, and Democrats are crowing that Republicans aren’t acting in good faith to address the issue. House Republicans must use the legislative process if they want a path forward on the border and in November’s elections.
Recently, a small bipartisan group of senators released the most significant immigration proposal in at least a decade. If that wasn’t enough, the 370-page bill also includes funding for Israel and Ukraine, combats fentanyl trafficking, and even takes care of our allies left behind during America’s hasty exit from Afghanistan.
Let’s be clear about how we got here. The record numbers of immigrant encounters along the southwest border are the direct result of President Joe Biden’s policy decisions and lackluster enforcement of existing law. It is an electoral anchor hanging around his neck, and he doesn’t have any plan to remedy the situation.
The bottom line is that America has several serious policy problems that must be resolved quickly. We’re not remotely on the same page, and the politics aren’t split conveniently along party lines. The Senate bill is a reasonable attempt at a compromise solution, but it need not be the final word.
Reading Senate proposal would be a good start for lawmakers
Sen. James Lankford, R-oklahoma, has been the chief Republican architect of the bill. Lankford is a conservative who is more interested in governing than becoming a cable news outrage peddler.
The problem for Lankford is that becoming a political influencer is a lot easier than actually reading legislative text and thinking. After former-president Donald Trump gave the emperor’s thumbs down on the effort, Republicans threw Lankford under the bus and then backed over him for good measure.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has taken full advantage of the situation.
“For years, years our Republican colleagues have demanded we fix the border. And all along they said it should be done through legislation,” Schumer said. “Only recently did they change that when it looks like we might actually produce legislation.”
As much as it might pain some of the mindless partisan automatons in Congress, actually reading the bill is an illuminating exercise. Here are a couple of the highlights for Republicans:
h Personnel investments necessary to enforce federal immigration law: The federal government does not have enough personnel to secure the border and process immigrants we apprehend. This bill addresses that situation directly. Even undocumented aliens are entitled to the Constitution’s
due process protections. Apprehending, processing, and removing requires law enforcement, attorneys, and judges.
h Addressing abuse of asylum claims: The Senate bill requires screening of prospective asylees within 90 days of their arrival in the United States with a much more strident standard. Claims for those who pass the screening must be adjudicated within another 90 days. Most asylum determinations would take six months instead of six years and result in many more removals. The bill also narrows the use of parole at U.S. land borders.
h Requires a strategic plan for Ukraine: Biden doesn’t seem to have a game plan for success in Ukraine. The bill requires “a strategy regarding United States support for Ukraine against aggression by the Russian Federation.” Such strategy “shall be multi-year, establish specific and achievable objectives, define and prioritize United States national security interests, and include the metrics to be used to measure progress in achieving such objectives.” Congress hasn’t managed to successfully require a plan to this point, but it should immediately.
To be fair, Democrats secure a few wins as well:
h Support for Ukraine: With the Republican Party split on continued support of Ukraine, Democrats secure continued support to keep Vladimir Putin from advancing his delusions of grandeur. It’s a win for Western democracy, and it gives Democrats a voice of leadership on the world stage.
h Funding for refugee and entrant assistance: These funds provide “culturally and linguistically appropriate services, including wraparound services, housing assistance, medical assistance, legal assistance, and case management assistance.” Republicans see these supports as a magnet for illegal immigration. Democrats see them as humane.
h Preserving the president’s ability to grant humanitarian parole: On a case-by-case basis, Biden has used such authority for Ukrainians, Afghans, Cubans, Venezuelans and Haitians, and other populations. Democrats want to ensure that Biden has flexibility on immigration issues instead of a legislative straightjacket.
Congress must work together
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but the measure has plenty of provisions for
honest conservatives and liberals to both applaud, reject, and tolerate. Too many Americans seem to have forgotten that the legislative process should indeed involve compromise.
Nevertheless, the Senate failed to advance the measure with four Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-vermont, joining all but four Republicans to prevent consideration of the legislation. Schumer also voted “no” to allow him to bring the bill up at a later time. Typically Republicans don’t vote on the same side as Sanders, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-new Jersey, and Elizabeth Warren, D-massachusetts, but we live in strange times.
Republicans must be more than the party of “no.” If Republican majorities don’t like the bill text, then amend it, and pass it again. Republicans’ best answer so far is that the Senate should take up their immigration reform bill, H.R. 2.
The standoff on such critical issues is maddening. To be clear, there is significant overlap between the recently derailed Senate bill and the House-passed immigration reform bill. Why on earth couldn’t Republicans advance a Senate measure, amend it in the House, and
then kick the political football back towards Democrats at a politically opportune time?
Republicans should force Democrats’ hands
I’ll let you in on a little secret. Democrats with any political sense will make the 2024 election all about Trump again. They don’t want to be talking about inflation, immigration, or infirmities brought on by age. By balking on a legislative push related to immigration, Republicans have given Democrats political cover they desperately need.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-louisiana, should mark up the Senate bill consistent with the demands of his conference and send it over to the Senate before the “contemplative” body can even get their own version done. Force Schumer to eat his own words. The fly in that ointment is a House Republican conference that can’t vote together on virtually any major piece of legislation.
Democrats who have failed miserably at securing the border and providing strategic leadership in both Ukraine
and Israel now have the political message they need: “We would have solved all these issues but Donald Trump killed our progress because of politics.”
It isn’t true, but it’s consistent with the Democratic strategy of letting Biden and the issues fade while Trump comes into focus as a villain hell bent on ending representative democracy itself. Republicans shouldn’t play the game. They should do their jobs as legislators. Drag Biden into the spotlight by forcing him to explain why Democrats wouldn’t take up reasonable immigration reforms passed by the House right before the election. If Democrats can play hardball politics with policy, so can we.
USA TODAY Network Tennessee Columnist Cameron Smith is a Memphisborn, Brentwood-raised recovering political attorney who worked for conservative Republicans. He and his wife Justine are raising three boys in Nolensville, Tennessee. Direct outrage or agreement to smith.david.cameron@gmail.com or @Dcameronsmith on X, formerly known as Twitter. Agree or disagree? Send a letter to the editor to letters@tennessean.com.