Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
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Conservatives in the lower chamber on Thursday passed a long-promised immigration bill that would — if signed into law — bolster security at the southern border.
The problem for Republicans is that, in all likelihood, the bill will never become law. The White House has already threatened a veto even if the act were to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate.
“President [Joe] Biden failed to secure the border,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) tweeted. “Secretary Mayorkas failed to secure the border. House Republicans just passed a bill to SECURE THE BORDER.”
President Biden failed to secure the border.
Secretary Mayorkas failed to secure the border.
House Republicans just passed a bill to SECURE THE BORDER.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) May 12, 2023
The Secure the Border Act of 2023 passed the House by a vote of 219-213 after a pair of Republicans, Kentucky’s Thomas Massie and California’s John Duarte, crossed the aisle to vote with all Democrats.
Massie’s disagreement stems from a provision within the proposed law that would require employers to use a national e-verify database to affirm that their workers are legally allowed to work in the U.S.
“FACT: National E-verify assumes every American is an illegal immigrant unless their identity can be matched to a government database,” Massie, perhaps the most libertarian member of Congress, tweeted Thursday. “I will vote against it today.”
The general complaint about national e-verify, as articulated in more detail by Kentucky state representative Savannah Maddox, is that such a program would give undue power to the federal government at the expense of the states and employers.
“The political establishment wants to pass a window dressing solution for illegal immigration to appease a political base that is justifiably concerned about growing problems at the border,” Maddox tweeted. “Giving Joe Biden the authority to deny a job to any American, however, is not a solution. It is a problem.”
Federal E-Verify is a verifiably bad idea.
The political establishment wants to pass a window dressing solution for illegal immigration to appease a political base that is justifiably concerned about growing problems at the border. Giving Joe Biden the authority to deny a job to…
— Savannah Maddox (@SavannahLMaddox) May 11, 2023
Most of the language in the Secure the Border Act is centered on making border security a more efficient and robust procedure. The bill would expand Customs and Border Protection by 22,000 employees, require all agents to be better equipped, and resume construction of the border wall.
Unsurprisingly, Democrats treated the bill as the harbinger of all things evil, accusing Republicans of seeking to end all asylum in the U.S. and of being anti-child.
“MAGA Republicans just passed an immigration bill that would effectively end asylum in the United States, turn away trafficking and torture victims, and allow child detention at the border,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) tweeted. “It’s cruel, extreme, and unworkable.”
In a statement, the Biden administration said it opposed the Republican effort to address immigration because the Secure the Border Act would do “nothing to address the root causes of migration, reduces humanitarian protections, and restricts lawful pathways, which are critical alternatives to unlawful entry.”
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden had his allies in the House reintroduce his immigration reform bill. The bill has gone and is likely to go nowhere.
“Instead of coming to the table to work together, House Republicans are playing politics and engaging in stunts that would fail to solve the challenges at our border, while also pushing deep spending cuts that would fire over 2,000 border patrol agents and decrease our border security,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
Republicans passed their bill on the last day of Title 42, the Trump-era measure that provided for expedited deportation of illegal migrants on health grounds.