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