House passes strict GOP border bill that attacks Biden on immigration

House Republicans on Thursday passed a sweeping border security bill that would crack down on illegal immigration, blow past solid Democratic opposition and narrowly avoid an embarrassing mutiny within their own ranks on one of their trademark midterm campaign pledges.

Republicans are timing the passage of the measure, which has no chance in the Democrat-led Senate, to highlight their tough stance on immigration just as President Biden faces a possible border hike with the expiration of Title 42, the rule from the pandemic era Thursday night. allowing migrants to be expelled quickly.

The bill would revive and codify a variety of border policies championed during the Trump administration, including the construction of a border wall, the “Stay in Mexico” practice of allowing migrants seeking asylum in detention centers or on the other side of keep the border and expedite deportation of unaccompanied children. It would also require companies to verify their employees’ legal eligibility to work in the United States through a program known as E-Verify, and criminalize visa overstays of more than 10 days.

The vote of 219 to 213 to pass the bill came only after months of internal Republican feuds, capped by a final, marathon round of haggling this week that highlighted the party’s tenuous hold on its tricky majority and led to a series of last minute changes to win over robbers. Two Republicans, Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and John Duarte of California, joined Democrats in opposing the legislation, citing objections to the E-Verify requirement.

The Republican divisions had threatened to cloud a debate the party had timed for maximum political advantage, in which GOP lawmakers denounced the Biden administration for rising waves of migration that are expected to increase further after Title 42 expires.

“Everyone knows we’re just days away from disaster,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on the House floor Wednesday, just hours after striking a deal to keep his conference from splintering. He summed up Mr Biden’s record as “record overruns, record carelessness, record chaos”, boasted that Republicans had written “the strongest border security bill to pass Congress in over 100 years”.

President Biden has threatened to veto the legislation.

“This bill has no chance of passing into law, and it is nothing more than pure political theater,” New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in the room Thursday, claiming that the legislation is a “contradictory and overlapping mess” that would “devastate our economy” and “destroy the asylum system”.

Democrats warned that the bill would empower cartels by prohibiting migrants from using a phone app to schedule immigration interviews at ports of entry, and fuel unprecedented levels of chaos at the border because of provisions many nongovernmental organizations seeking aid offer to penalize migrants through their access to funding from the Department of Homeland Security.

Mississippi Representative Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said on the House floor Wednesday that the bill was “cruel, inhumane and unworkable,” adding that it was “written in an extreme MAGA Republican echo chamber.”

But some mainstream Republicans who had opposed earlier versions of the measure argued that it contained redemptive elements that could form the basis for a bipartisan compromise in the future.

“There’s plenty of bones in this package because if it goes to the Senate, the Senate can pick it up and make something,” said Representative Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican. “For me it never ended with 218 votes in the House of Representatives. It was always about getting something into law.”

Mr Gonzales was one of the first and most vociferous members of his party to condemn early drafts of the bill, demanding changes to provisions that would have effectively halted the asylum system once detention centers filled up. Republican leaders, realizing that Mr. Gonzales was about to lead a devastating series of defections that would be enough to kill their bill, responded by toning down the language to be something less restrictive. He has since become a vocal booster.

“I won,” Mr. Gonzales proudly declared this week. “If you win, you vote yes.”

But other factions in the party threatened to withhold support this week, forcing leaders to freeze floor proceedings on Wednesday as they tried to twist guns and calm holdouts.

A group of ultra-conservative members objected to the language, which they said would undermine the party’s efforts to limit asylum applications, while some more mainstream Republicans objected to the legislation’s eligibility requirements for employment, arguing that they would decimate the agricultural industry.

Although Mr. McCarthy came out with a razor-thin victory, it illustrated the difficulties he continues to face in holding his unruly conference together.

Representative Daniel Crenshaw, Republican of Texas, whipped up members of the right-wing Freedom Caucus to a belated frenzy over a provision of the bill that orders the government to investigate whether Mexican drug cartels should be classified as foreign terrorist organizations.

The change, he argued, would give more asylum seekers reasons to seek protection in the United States.

Republican leaders on Wednesday agreed to scrap the provision and replace it with language directing Congress to prepare a report on the subject. In the meantime, the House is also expected to set up a task force to look into the matter in which Mr Crenshaw is expected to play a leading role.

GOP lawmakers expressing concern about the impact of the law’s job eligibility requirements on the agricultural industry, which relies heavily on undocumented migrant workers, demanded smaller concessions. Republican leaders added a non-binding resolution stating that adverse effects on the agricultural workforce and food security would be considered before finalizing the mandate.

Representative Dan Newhouse, a Washington Republican in charge of easing the farm sector, said the changes were enough to get “most” members who shared his concerns on board.

Some senators said they hoped the bill’s passage could help the Senate accelerate efforts toward a broader, more comprehensive immigration law.

“I’m less concerned about the elements of the House Republican bill and more concerned about them getting a bill with us,” Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent, told reporters Thursday.

Ms. Sinema, who has worked with North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis to cobble together legislation to address both border security and legal immigration, argued that the House’s action could help the Senate a bipartisan, bicameral way to work to form a final package.”