Category: Guest Authors

‘Bipartisan’ Senate Bill Would Keep Border Open

By Joe Guzzardi

Oklahoma Senator James Langford has not officially announced his long-term political goals. But deep-red Oklahoma’s senior senator has done a superb job of shooting himself in the foot by joining up with three open borders advocates in what they laughingly refer to as a bipartisan border agreement. Under Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer’s watchful eyes, Langford’s negotiating colleagues are Arizona Senator Kristen Sinema, a faux Independent who caucuses with Democrats, and blue Connecticut’s Chris Murphy. Sinema and Murphy have consistently voted against border and interior enforcement while favoring amnesty enticements. Neither Sinema nor Murphy, however, have served close to Schumer’s three decades-plus in Congress during which time he has unbendingly fought for higher immigration levels and less enforcement. Up against Schumer and company, Langford is out of his element.

Even the most cursory review of the Senate’s proposed deal shows that the details would not only keep the border open but also encourage more illegal immigration. Leaked details include a disastrous provision that once border crossings reached a seven-day 5,000 rolling daily average, the Department of Homeland Security would have the authority to shut down migration. Daily encounters between 4,000 and 5,000 would allow for discretionary expulsions, and any single day where there were over 8,000 encounters, expulsions would be mandatory even if the 7-day average were lower. Those expulsions would also be exempt from judicial review. Not only would such levels be inconsistent with border security, but President Biden has complete authority to shut the border down tight without more congressional legislation. The legislation would also, say advocates close to the talks, tighten asylum standards, speed up the hearing process, double deportation flights, and expedite work permits. Only expedited work permits are likely to become a reality, a harmful feature that expands the labor force with unskilled workers and takes away jobs from U.S. workers.

Andrew Arthur, a Center for Immigration Studies Resident Fellow in Law and Policy, and a former immigration judge, wrote in his New York Post op-ed that Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act gives the president authority to “suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens.” Moreover, in 2018, the Supreme Court rejected immigration advocates’ challenges to travel restrictions that President Donald Trump implemented on certain nationals of terrorist hotspots and countries hostile to the United States and wrote that Section 212(f) “exudes deference to the President in every clause.” House Speaker Mike Johnson, reflecting most Americans’ sentiments and promising that if the Senate bill should ever reach the House it would be DOA, said that the “goal should be zero illegal crossings a day, not 5,000.” Unlike the Senate trio, Johnson knows that in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, immigration ranked with the economy as the two issues that most troubled voters.

Langford,  an ordained Southern Baptist minister, has pushed back against criticism and claims that election year politics and not the bill’s details hamper the Senate process. Voters are increasingly aware that Biden’s lack of political will to enforce existing laws is the main reason the border remains open. Deep skepticism with the White House’s immigration agenda has intensified, and a bad Senate bill will not soothe voters’ immigration anxiety. 

Langford got a sample of how getting cozy with Schumer could derail his career. The Oklahoma Republican Party (OKGOP) voted to censure Lankford for his close work with Democrats on border legislation. However, since not all OKGOP members were present, the censure was not official. Still, the vote could be a signal of trouble ahead for Langford. 

History’s lesson: Florida Senator Marco Rubio got a rude awakening to the long-term consequences of a Schumer connection. In 2013, only his second full year in office, Rubio was one of four GOP Senators who teamed up with four Democrats including Schumer to pass the disastrous immigration “Gang of Eight” bill, never taken up by the House. Rubio’s betrayal shocked Florida’s Republicans. In 2015, Rubio was one of 17 GOP announced presidential candidates. When the crucial Florida primary time rolled around in March 2016, Rubio needed a win over Donald Trump to remain viable. But Florida’s voters didn’t forget Rubio’s duplicity and overwhelmingly cast their ballots for Trump, 46% to 27%. Once considered a frontrunner, Rubio’s presidential aspirations ended that night.

Langford’s next re-election cycle, should he choose to run, is 2028. Myriad border outcomes could occur in the next six years. But Oklahoma Republicans are unlikely to forget, much less forgive, Langford’s eagerness to join the Democrats to keep the border open and subvert U.S. sovereignty. 

Joe Guzzardi is a Project for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@ifspp.org

‘Bipartisan’ Senate Bill Would Keep Border Open

Spineless GOP Rejects Border Bill

By Joe Guzzardi

A spineless House of Representatives just gave Americans a big, in-your-face middle finger. In the invasion’s third year, the southwest border surge continues relentlessly. Eight million illegal aliens plus one and a half million gotaways from more than 150 nations continue to lawlessly surge the border in willful defiance of United States law. The invaders have brought death and destruction with them — -death via the fentanyl they’ve trafficked in, destruction to the communities both large and small in which they’ve settled, and senseless homicides. Although the House has legislation that could end the border crisis, HR-2, the Secure Border Act of 2023 which it passed in May, and despite House Speaker Mike Johnson’s insistence that border security be included in any bill that might provide President Biden with more Ukraine funding, nothing changes.

To date, the U.S. has sent $133 billion to Ukraine for humanitarian and military aid. In December, Biden urged Congress to pass a $110 billion aid package that included $61.4 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel in its war against Hamas. Biden also seeks funding for Taiwan. Facing a government funding deadline, Johnson kicked the border security can down the road. Instead of demanding HR-2, the Speaker settled for a Continuing Resolution with a vote that included 108 weak-kneed Republicans who joined with Democrats to keep parts of the government open until March 1 and other sections until March 8. The final vote: 314–108.

Among the Republican nays were many who are, at least publicly, vocal about the dire need for border enforcement: Speaker Johnson, Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chair James Comer, Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement Chair Tom McClintock, Chairman, House Committee Chair on Foreign Affairs and Chairman Emeritus and House Committee on Homeland Security Michael McCaul, and Nancy Mace, National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs Committee member. Although Johnson, Jordan, Comer, et al appear solid on security, exasperated voters wonder if they’re squishes disguised as patriots. The House’s most conservative members, thoroughly disgusted with Johnson, threaten to remove him and set off another bitter round of votes to replace him. Johnson’s unconvincing excuse that enforcement legislation which includes HR-2 would take too much time, and that the border catastrophe must be addressed correctly — -he provided no details.

With the November election only nine months away, and with polling showing that not only Republicans but Democrats and Independents all express deep dissatisfaction with Biden’s immigration agenda, Johnson should use the few weeks his enforcement cave-in bought him to get busy. Johnson must take a firm stand and make his and his fellow Americans’ positions clear that if H.R. 2 is not included in the supplemental foreign aid package, the House will not approve another CR that would fund the same disastrous, illegal border policies at the FY 2023 open border level. House Republicans, even with a slim majority, have the power of the purse, and with that leverage can end Biden’s sovereignty-busting immigration vision. Either in a comprehensive FY 2024 budget bill or included in the supplemental Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan foreign aid package that the president demands, HR-2’s border reforms must be included.

This marks the third time since the current fiscal year began on October 1, 2023 that Congress has failed to pass a budget. Assuming HR-2 is included in March — -an assumption only the most optimistic can embrace — -five months will have elapsed or, expressed differently and based on Customs and Border Protection statistics, more than one million illegal aliens will have been processed and released into the interior. Americans want the border sealed shut and interior enforcement returned to protect the public from criminals that have literally walked into the nation, unvetted, and rarely pursued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

With a terrible Senate bill in the works that could keep the alien invasion going, the nation’s message to Johnson and House Republicans is simple and direct — -no more sell outs!

Joe Guzzardi is a Project for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@ifspp.org

Spineless GOP Rejects Border Bill

Nuggets Of Good Immigration News In 2023

By Joe Guzzardi

Scouring calendar year 2023 for good immigration news is a challenge. But a nugget here and there provides a glimmer of hope, however faint, for long-elusive border enforcement to become reality. The year’s highlight came in May when the House passed, 219–213, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, HR-2. The bill’s provisions include, among several other pro-enforcement features, a mandate that employers use the legislatively elusive E-Verify that would protect American jobs, require the Department of Homeland Security to restart border wall construction, reinstate Remain in Mexico, end asylum fraud, and close the loopholes that frivolously grant parole.

Another positive in the endless battle for sensible immigration is Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) election as Speaker of the House. Since entering Congress in 2017, Johnson has earned A+ immigration grades in strengthening border and interior security as well as ending asylum and refugee fraud. Johnson and like-minded GOP reps have so far insisted that HR-2 be included in any legislation that may provide funding for Ukraine and Israel. The show-down between House enforcement advocates and a Senate dominated by open-borders backers is scheduled to begin January 8. Johnson must not yield an inch, and must absolutely reject the Senate’s demand for amnesty as a quid-pro-quo to any agreement.

Unlike finding the positive immigration news during 2023, the bad news stands out like the proverbial sore thumb. The House Homeland Security Committee released a shocking report titled “Startling Stats” that detailed the extent of President Biden and DHS Secretary Mayorkas’ illegal, unconstitutional disregard for obeying immigration law and their criminal indifference to defending national security.

In FY23, Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 2.4 million encounters at the southwest border and more than 3.2 million encounters nationwide. During the current fiscal year, 169 individuals on the terrorist watchlist were apprehended attempting to enter the country illegally, and at least 1.7 million known gotaways have evaded apprehension since FY2021. Since President Biden took office, there have been 7.5 million encounters nationwide and 6.2 million encounters at the southwest border, in addition to 1.7 million known gotaways.

Also in FY 2023, CBP arrested 35,433 aliens with criminal convictions or outstanding warrants, including 598 known gang members, 178 of those being MS-13 members. Including its Air and Marine Operations, CBP also seized enough fentanyl coming across the Southwest border to kill, the House Homeland Security Committee estimates, about 6 billion people.

The report’s findings did nothing to influence the administration to end the invasion. Not only did the illegal alien influx remain steady, it accelerated unabated. Proof that the border crisis will continue unchecked: in December, CBP processed and released a historic monthly high 302,000 aliens. Since the start of FY 2024 which began on October 1, 2023, CBP has encountered more than 785,000 aliens at the southern border alone.

With Johnson serving as speaker, and with HR-2 in place as potential leverage to use in the upcoming Ukraine-Israel funding negotiations, optimism for the first steps toward border enforcement can be harbored. But as long-time veterans of immigration enforcement versus immigration chaos conflicts can attest, there’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.

Joe Guzzardi is a Project for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@ifspp.org