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Democrats' star border bill begins to show cracks: Too soft for Republicans, too tough for Hispanic Caucus

Schumer's announcement that the Senate will vote again next Thursday on a bipartisan bill that was rejected in February sparked a new confrontation between congressional leaders.

Agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza detienen a 128 inmigrantes abandonados por traficantes en Tucson en 2018.

Agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza detienen a inmigrantes ilegales en Tucson en una foto de archivo, (CBP/Flickr)

Published by
Israel Duro

Immigration once again sparked a public confrontation between House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer ahead of the vote on a bipartisan border bill in the Senate Thursday. A previous version of the proposal was already rejected in February.

President Biden himself personally called the leaders of both chambers to ask for their support, although Johnson has already announced that, if it passes the Senate, the rule would be "dead on arrival" in the House. The Democratic-leaning Congressional Hispanic Caucus rejected the initiative, which it described as "repressive" and demanded the regularization of the millions of illegal immigrants who have been in the country for years.

Schumer accuses the GOP of 'exploiting the border for Trump's political gain'

Schumer made a post on X accusing Trump and the Republicans of blocking "the strongest, most comprehensive border security bill in a generation." According to the Democratic Senate majority leader, this is due to partisan interests ahead of the November election, because "they still don't have any plan except exploiting the border for Trump's political gain."

Republican counterattack

The post was quickly and forcefully responded to by Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee, who accused Senate Democrats blocking "the strongest border security bill in history" over a year ago, which was approved by the House and would have been effective in stopping the invasion that the southern border has suffered since Biden's arrival to the White House.

Johnson criticizes Biden's open borders policy

Johnson himself replied to Schumer saying that the border problem stems from the Democrats, especially Biden's policies, which leave the border completely wide open for millions of illegal immigrants, just the opposite of what happened during Trump's term. "Everyone knows it - especially the illegals trying to get in," said the speaker.

Johnson published a statement together with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, in which he warned that, even if the vote managed to go ahead in the Senate (it already failed in February with votes against from Democratic senators), it would never pass Congress.

For more than three years now, Congressional Democrats have stood by while the Biden Administration has opened our borders to criminal drug cartels, terrorists, and untold millions of illegal immigrants. Now, Leader Schumer is trying give his vulnerable members cover by bringing a vote on a bill which has already failed once in the Senate because it would actually codify many of the disastrous Biden open border policies that created this crisis in the first place. Should it reach the House, the bill would be dead on arrival.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus rejects the proposal as restrictive

In case there was any chance that the bill would reach the president's desk for his signature, the 42 members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus issued a very critical statement rejecting the initiative:

The Senate border bill once again fails to meet the moment by putting forth enforcement-only policies and failing to include provisions that will keep families together. As written, the bill excludes critical protections and legal pathways for families, farm workers and America’s Dreamers who have been in the U.S. contributing to our Nation's communities and economy for decades.

Furthermore, the president of the caucus, Nannette Barragan, noted that "any bipartisan solution must ... include the bipartisan Dream and Promise Act for our dreamers and the the Farm Workforce Modernization Act," which would mean granting green cards, and even U.S. citizenship, to millions of illegal foreigners who are already in the country.

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