Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan discusses the border crisis that he says is not slowing down and predicts new crossing records as Border Patrol feels overwhelmed FIRST ON FOX: A number of conservative groups and former border officials are urging Republican lawmakers to reject a potential compromise on border funding that falls short of the House signature legislation passed this year — as the clock ticks down on a potential deal.
Negotiations are ongoing between Republicans, Democrats, and the Biden administration over a $106 billion supplemental spending agreement for the border, Israel, and Ukraine. Republicans have demanded policy changes, including asylum limits, to restrict the entry of migrants into the U.S. as part of the deal.
Republicans in the House and conservative groups have called for the inclusion of the entirety of H.R. 2 — the House signature legislation passed in the chamber this year which ramps up border security, restarts border wall construction, brings back the Remain-in-Mexico policy, and limits the use of asylum and humanitarian parole among other sweeping changes.
A Senate working group released a slimmer version of proposals taken in part from H.R. 2, but that was rejected by the White House and Senate Democrats. This week it was reported that the administration was open to a Title 42-type expulsion authority in certain circumstances, expanded expedited removal, and a broadening of immigration detention. Those proposals drew optimism from some Senate Republicans, even as some Democrats and immigration activists condemned them.
However, the conservatives — who are part of a coalition that previously warned Congress against “watering down” H.R. 2 — say that it falls short of what is required to fix the ongoing crisis at the border which has hit historic highs in terms of migrant encounters.
Kevin Roberts, president of Heritage Action, said in a statement to Digital that “years of backroom deals and weakness from Congress have given us the worst illegal immigration crisis in American history” and that Americans are “sick and tired” of secret negotiations that end in “do-nothing bills.” He emphasized that H.R. 2 is the plan that already secures the border and anything less would be a defeat for the American people and the rule of law.
Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center and a former DHS official, dismissed reported claims by the Biden administration that it would deport and detain more, stating that it is current law which they’ve ignored for three years. She called the claims neither a ‘concession’ nor credible.
Former acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan accused Senate Republicans of “negotiating with themselves to water down what they already agreed was the path to success.” He argued that throwing more money at the crisis and begging the current administration to enforce the laws they have disregarded for three years, without the inclusion of the policy changes contained in H.R. 2, is not a solution but a failure.
Chris Chmielenski, President of the Immigration Accountability Project, said that the proposed compromise falls short of addressing the crisis and warned that any Republican that goes along will join the Biden Administration in owning it. He emphasized that the only way to end the crisis is to pass H.R. 2 and send a clear message that the U.S. border is closed.
Lawmakers are due to leave Washington on Thursday for the holiday break, and it is unclear if a deal will be reached before then. Meanwhile, sources confirmed that encounters breached the 10,000 mark at the southern border in a single day on Tuesday.
Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.
