(UnitedVoice.com) – Democrats and Republicans negotiated a border bill for weeks. Finally, they came up with one that gave the GOP some of the toughest changes to immigration laws in a very long time. Both sides appeared pleased with the final product, but then, former President Donald Trump got involved.
The presumptive GOP nominee convinced Republicans to kill the bill. Months later, the Senate majority leader is trying again to get the legislation through the upper chamber.
Another Try
On May 19, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sent a letter to his colleagues informing them that he was sending the bipartisan border bill to the floor for a vote. This time, the bill will be standalone legislation.
The senator said that Trump has “made it clear he would rather preserve the issue for his campaign” rather than allow lawmakers to fix it now. When the former president made his plan clear, Schumer said many Conservatives “abruptly reversed course on their prior support” and declared they opposed the bipartisan bill.
Now, Democrats will seek to neutralize the Republican message on the border issues. For months, the GOP has called it a crisis and said it’s one of the most important problems to solve. If the bill fails the second time around, the Left will point to it as alleged proof that Conservatives don’t care about solving the problem. Ironically, the Democratic Party did nothing to close the border when they controlled the White House and both congressional chambers for two years.
The day after Schumer’s remarks, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden Administration “strongly supports” the bipartisan bill and urged lawmakers to “put partisan politics aside and vote to secure the border.”
The law would reduce border crossings by raising the bar migrants need to meet to qualify for asylum. Those who did not meet the new criteria would be removed from the country quickly. It also would allow the POTUS to close the border if there are 5,000 daily crossings for a week or 8,500 in one day. It also provides millions in funding to Border Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
What Really Happened Last Time?
Indeed, Trump did not support the border bill. He has called on Republicans to refuse to pass any legislation unless it gives the GOP everything that they want. In January, during a campaign event in Las Vegas, Nevada, the former president said he was the leader of the GOP, and there was a “zero chance” he would “support [the] horrible open borders betrayal of America.”
Trump went on to say many senators were blaming him for the legislation not moving forward but he was happy about that. “Please blame it on me. Please,” he said.
Republicans took issue with the number of immigrants who would be allowed in the US before the border shutdown was triggered. That’s still a major point of contention. The House GOP already responded to Schumer’s declaration that he would bring the bill up for a second vote and said it was dead on arrival.
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