When Republicans Refuse To Win

Not a day goes by without Republicans remarking on the inability of the Biden administration to manage the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border — immigration being their preserve. But with a bipartisan solution on the table, Republicans, beholden to former President Donald Trump, are refusing to take action on it for fear of handing Joe Biden a political win in an election year.

The details of the mega-deal published Sunday indicate that it provides $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine, $14 billion to Israel, $10 billion in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, Israel and the Gaza Strip as well as $20 billion for border security.

This final piece of the bipartisan agreement, which a trio of senators worked on in collaboration with the White House, would give the president extended powers to restrict border crossings, including the authority to turn back migrants without allowing them to apply for asylum.

The bill would also keep the processing of asylum requests at official border crossings and clear migrants who pass the eligibility interview to legally work in the U.S.

Bipartisanship Frowned upon by Republicans

The border agreement was brokered by Republican Sen. James Lankford, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and senior officials from the Biden administration after Republican lawmakers demanded limits on U.S. asylum law in exchange for increased support of military aid to Ukraine.

This bipartisan compromise would constitute the first major revision of the immigration system since the 1990s when Congress last passed a major immigration bill. Both Republicans, who continually claim to want to attack the immigration problem at the border, and Democrats, have for decades refused to budge on this issue.

The deal could prove hard to swallow for some Democrats, as it represents a total shift by Biden on immigration. The one who promised to “restore” the asylum system and dismantle Trump-era border policies that “contravened our values and caused needless human suffering” is now ready to make concessions to make passage of the agreement possible.

Some progressives fear these changes give future presidents — like Trump should he win in November — dangerous leeway to halt the processing of asylum applications.

A Major Proposal

The fact remains that the deal brokered by the White House would constitute one of the strictest laws regarding borders and immigration in modern history and would not legalize the status of the 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization.

The Democratic president stated during a campaign event in South Carolina that, if given the authority, he “would shut down the border right now and fix it quickly.”

Moreover, if this bill is passed by Congress and signed by the president, the federal government will have new emergency authority to turn back most migrants when southern border crossings reach certain thresholds.

In normal times, this would satisfy Republicans and conservatives by showing a will to resolve the border crisis and steal a political win at Biden’s expense. But these are not normal times.

‘Out of the Question,’ Trump Orders

Trump, who has railed for weeks against the legislation, went on the offensive in a series of posts on Truth Social to discourage any Republican lawmaker who might be in favor from voting on the deal.

“Only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill, which only gives Shutdown Authority after 5000 Encounters a day when we already have the right to CLOSE THE BORDER NOW, which must be done.”

“Don’t be STUPID!!! We need a separate Border and Immigration Bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape, or form! The Democrats broke Immigration and the Border. They should fix it,” Trump added.

In turn, House Republican leaders declared, “Any consideration of this Senate bill in its current form is a waste of time. It is DEAD on arrival in the House. We encourage the U.S. Senate to reject it.”

Immigration, Trump’s Political Meal Ticket

It is no secret that Trump, the favorite in the race for the Republican nomination, hopes to revive his 2016 campaign [success] by spreading fear of immigrants and the caravans often shown on Fox News, his electoral warhorse.

The fact that he expressed his opposition to any agreement that might give Biden political success less than nine months before the presidential election is not surprising on his part. He wants the current government to appear weak, paralyzed and ineffective.

In Trump’s wake, the Republican right has multiplied its bold declarations. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called the proposed deal “a stinking pile of crap.” Sens. Rick Scott, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson and others joined Cruz in denouncing the bill. Even Republican Sen. James Lankford, who played a key role in the negotiations, followed suit.

Lankford had previously defended himself on Newsmax. “I would remind folks that during the Trump administration we also had days of more than 4,000 people that were illegally crossing the border in 2019 and they were struggling because there were gaps and loopholes in the law.”

Lankford also denounced the political inaction of his Republican colleagues.

“If I go back two months ago and say we have the shot under a Democrat president to dramatically increase detention beds, deportation flights, lock down the border, to be able to change the asylum laws, to be able to accelerate the process, no one would have believed it. And now no one actually wants to be able to fix it.”

As a result, even if the initial Senate vote on the deal is set for Wednesday, Republican Rep. Mike Johnson has already indicated that the proposal will not even be considered in the House of Representatives, killing any chance for immigration reform with this agreement.

Typically, House leaders do not present a bill without the votes necessary for passage. Often, bills have been withdrawn at the last minute to avoid defeat. In the case of the border bill, Republicans will not present it for perhaps the opposite reason — meaning, there is still the potential for passage with bipartisan support.

Political Diversion

What is the House majority proposing to resolve the situation? Hard to know. In the meantime, Republicans could vote on the impeachment resolution of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, seen by them as responsible for all the troubles at the border*.

Biden sees the charges against Secretary Mayorkas as an “act of political retribution that would do nothing to solve the challenges our Nation faces in securing the border.”

Some Republicans have expressed the feeling that the procedure is baseless and ridiculous as no crime or misdemeanor has been committed by Mayorkas, and that it would even be counterproductive to the Republican cause.

For his part, Biden has stated that his administration would continue to work with Congress to find solutions for securing the border and the reinforcement of an immigration system overwhelmed by a record number of crossings.

It is a mission that, if Trump-friendly Republicans’ refusal to compromise is anything to go by, is doomed to failure, courtesy of Trump’s stronghold on the party in the middle of an election year.

*Editor’s Note: The House voted to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas on a vote of 214-213 on Feb. 14. Only three Republicans voted against it. The issue is expected to fail in the Senate.