Failed border bill would have stopped migrants from ‘gaming the system,’ Border Patrol union president says

Also, Sen. Mitt Romney explains why he supported the border security package

By Brigham Tomco

Senate Republicans quashed the most comprehensive bipartisan border security package in years, with some arguing it failed to go far enough to address the country’s immigration crisis despite an endorsement from the National Border Patrol Council.

The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act failed to pass a procedural step on Wednesday, 50-49, falling short of the 60 votes that would have ended debate and forced a final vote. Nearly all Senate Republicans voted to table the bill, including Utah senior Sen. Mike Lee, who led opposition to the deal.

Just four Republicans joined most Democratic senators in supporting the measure: Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and one of the bill’s authors, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.

“The border crisis demands action right now, and we had legislation that would have helped fix Biden’s immigration mess, which is why I voted to get on the bill,” Romney told the Deseret News in a statement.

Why did Republicans reject the bipartisan border bill?

The bill, negotiated over four months by Lankford, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., bundled military assistance for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan with a ceiling on migrant processing and tougher asylum standards. Though the package originated from Republican requests that foreign aid be paired with enhanced border security, the bill text had hardly been released before it was condemned by scores of GOP lawmakers.

In a series of posts on X, Lee outlined where he thought the bill fell short of what was needed and, in some cases, would make the situation at the border worse. He said the bill would codify the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policy for migrants awaiting immigration proceedings, would normalize 5,000 illegal entries a day with no requirements for deportation and would not include immediate funding for building a border wall.

https://www.deseret.com/2024/2/8/24065231/border-patrol-union-president-brandon-judd-mitt-romney