Though House Republican leaders couldn’t quite get all of their members to support their far-right immigration bill last week, the party managed to approve the so-called “Secure the Border Act” late last week. For those concerned about good governance, this was not encouraging news.
As The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent explained, the House GOP’s bill “would impose many draconian restrictions on asylum applicants and reinstate Trump’s policy of forcing migrants to wait in Mexico for hearings, which produced humanitarian horrors. The White House and serious immigration analysts say this would end asylum seeking at the border as we know it and scrap existing legal protections for unaccompanied migrant kids.”
At first blush, it might be tempting to overlook the legislation, since there’s simply no way a Democratic-led Senate would even consider it, but its prospects don’t make the bill irrelevant. For one thing, the package makes it painfully clear just how regressive House Republicans’ immigration vision has become.
For another, some GOP lawmakers have an idea about how to get what they want anyway. Politico reported:
Key GOP lawmakers are signaling they want border policies in the mix as congressional leadership and the White House try to negotiate a debt ceiling deal, the day after Republicans passed a sweeping border and immigration bill. It was a GOP wishlist that included restarting construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and placing new restrictions on asylum seekers.
Republican Rep. Chip Roy, for example, said that he believes his party’s far-right immigration package “is now a central part of any debt ceiling or spending debate for the remainder of the year.” The Texan added that other GOP members agree with him that the issue is now part of the debt ceiling process.
Politico’s report went on to note that Republican Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana — a top deputy to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, especially as part of the debt…
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