A conservative coalition is warning Republican leaders that they will oppose any move to water down border security proposals found in the House Republican signature legislation in order to achieve a supplemental spending deal.
The conservative groups want to see the Secure the Border Act, known as H.R. 2, included as part of any spending agreement on the White House’s $106 billion request submitted to Congress, which includes border funding and aid to Israel and Ukraine. The bill passed the House earlier this year and would restart border wall construction and restrict the use of parole while overhauling and limiting asylum eligibility.
Republicans have demanded that limits on asylum and the use of parole be included in any spending agreement, but the H.R. 2 package has so far seen total opposition from Democrats in the Senate. A Senate working group outlined proposals similar to H.R. 2 but which some conservatives said fell short of the House bill.
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Now, the conservative groups are telling Republicans that they must hold firm amid ongoing negotiations in Congress, given the historic crisis at the southern border which is now deep into its third year and saw record migrant numbers in FY23.
“There is no reason Members of the House and Senate should accept anything less than the provisions of H.R. 2,” they argue. “Watering down its provisions, simply as a means of obtaining enough votes for other policy priorities should not guide the Senate’s efforts here,” they say.
“The goal should be to end this border crisis,” they say.
They argue that H.R. 2 is the “bare minimum required to regain control of America’s southern border and provide credibility for our nation’s immigration system.”
The groups are led by the Heritage Foundation and include former officials including former acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan, former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan, former acting Deputy DHS Secretary Ken Cuccinelli and former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott.
The groups on the letter include immigration hawks including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and Numbers USA, as well as newer groups such as the National Immigration Center for Enforcement (NICE) and the Immigration Accountability Project (IAP). Other groups include Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime and the Citizens for Renewing America.
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The White House has sought $14 billion for border operations, which includes money to support arrivals, and aid communities that are receiving large number of migrants. It also includes funding for transportation, including removal flights and resources for alternatives to detention. It also includes money for “non-custodial housing options” for those in expedited removal, including facilities with housing, legal services and medical care.
The administration has argued it is working in a broken system and needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform, including an amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S.
Republicans, however, blame the crisis on the administration’s policies, and say that the practice of releasing migrants into the U.S. either via parole or to claim asylum needs to be ended to stop the crisis and it cannot be solved by more funding alone. As a result, conservatives see this spending fight as a rare chance to secure policy changes to do that.
But the coalition says the policies being considered as part of the Senate deal, even if they would restrict parole and asylum to a degree, are not enough.
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“The Biden Administration inherited the most secure border in our lifetimes, but intentionally chose policies to create and maintain the border crisis. As such, the half-measures being contemplated in this Senate ‘border deal’ would simply facilitate the ongoing de-facto amnesty the Biden Administration is granting by processing millions of illegal aliens into American communities,” they say.
They also warn that they would be prepared to fight against any such deal, just as they had worked to torpedo prior immigration deals in years past.
“The undersigned and the millions of actual voters we represent who support sensible immigration policy are prepared to defeat this ‘deal’ just as we defeated the Gang of Eight bill ten years ago,” they say.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are demanding that any policy changes to asylum and parole be accompanied by a pathway to legal status for those in the country illegally already — a measure that would likely be a non-starter for many, if not all, Republicans.
