Thursday, February 8, 2024

Why the Bipartisan Border Bill Was Unsatisfactory

There's been a lot of controversy over the Republicans' failure to support the supposed bipartisan Senate bill that would have provided funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, which the Democrats wanted, in exchange for legislation that would secure our borders against illegal immigration, which the Republicans wanted.

The Republicans looked at the border provisions and decided that although there were some good elements, the overall effect of the bill would be to make legal what President Biden and Secretary Mayorkis are already doing illegally.

To get an idea of why the Republicans balked at the recent bill, here's a comparison of the recent proposal with the bill the Republicans passed in the House of Representatives last May (HR 2) but which the Democrats refused to take up in the Senate: