The Democrat-controlled Senate aims to reconsider a failed border security bill, but House Republicans warned the legislation would be “dead on arrival” if it gets sent their way.
In a “Dear Colleague” letter on Sunday, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced plans to resurrect “The Border Act” as a standalone measure this week after it got blocked earlier this year when linked to foreign aid.
“We are hopeful this bipartisan proposal will bring serious-minded Republicans back to the table to advance this bipartisan solution for our border,” Schumer said in his letter.
Although Senate Republicans and Democrats spent months hashing out the bill, which seeks to tighten up the asylum process and shore up border security to get a grip on the migrant crisis, it failed to win over most GOP lawmakers.
One particular aspect of the legislation that came under fire, concerning the Border Emergency Authority, led critics to say it would allow 5,000 people a day to come into the country and up to two million illegal entries a year.
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), who led the negotiations on the GOP side, argued the claims were untrue and insisted the provision was being misinterpreted, but he and other defenders of the bill failed to muster even 50 votes.
After the compromise deal tying border security to foreign aid was stymied in the Senate in February, Congress went on to pass a $95 billion package to help U.S. allies in April.
With Schumer announcing the border security legislation would get a second chance as a standalone bill, House Republican leaders repeated a warning they made when the legislation was previously considered.
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Claiming the bill would codify the Biden administration’s “open border policies that created this crisis in the first place,” the House GOP leaders said in a statement, “Should it reach the House, the bill would be dead on arrival.”
The group, led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), also noted that Schumer and Senate Democrats have rejected all the border security bills that the GOP-led House sent their way — including H.R. 2, which received no support from Democrats.
“If Senate Democrats were actually serious about solving the problem and ending the border catastrophe, they would bring up H.R. 2 and pass it this week,” the House Republicans said.
