Senate Republicans are resisting the proposed bipartisan border security bill meant to end the crisis at the southern border, which has drawn criticism due to its high price tag and the number of daily encounters it requires to trigger a shutdown.
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee states that the bill includes $118.28 billion in spending.
Nearly $86.5 billion will be used to support Ukraine, Gaza, and Israel. More than $60 billion will be used to provide military aid to Ukraine during the ongoing war with Russia.
Since Russia invaded the country in February 2022, the U.S. has already sent more than $75 billion to Ukraine to help cover costs associated with the war, as reported by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Similarly, the bill would also provide roughly $14.1 billion to Israel for “security assistance” during the war with Hamas, along with $10 billion in humanitarian aid to countries in conflict zones around the world, including both Gaza and Ukraine.
While more than $80 billion in total would be allocated to assist foreign countries, the bill provides just $20.23 billion to “address existing operational needs and expand capabilities at our nation’s borders, resource the new border policies included in the package, and help stop the flow of fentanyl and other narcotics,” according to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Many people, including President Joe Biden, have claimed that this bill would be the “toughest and fairest set of border reforms in decades.”
However, the bill also allows more than 1.8 million unlawful migrants to cross into the U.S. during any calendar year, with an automatic shutdown triggered only when crossings exceed 5,000 on any given day.
This shutdown would be expected to remain in place until the number of average encounters dips below 75% of the 5,000 daily encounter threshold; however, the bill would also allow the president to end the shutdown at any time.
“If the President finds that it is in the national interest to temporarily suspend the border emergency authority, the President may direct the Secretary to suspend use of the border emergency authority on an emergency basis,” states the bill.
The admittance of more than 1.8 million unlawful migrants each year would be the highest number of crossings in any year outside of the current administration.
Outside of the current administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has only reported more than 1.6 million encounters at the border twice since 1925. This happened in 1986 with 1,692,544 encounters, and in 2000 with 1,676,438 encounters.
CBP has reported more than 1.7 million encounters in each of the last three full fiscal years at just the southern border, with an increase in encounters occurring each year. Based on the first three months of reported data, FY2024 is currently on pace for more than 3.1 million encounters at the southern border.
Lawmakers have seemingly been split on the bill since the text was officially released, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) stating that it “fails in every policy area needed to secure the border and would actually incentivize more illegal immigration.”
“The so-called ‘shutdown’ authority in the bill is anything but, riddled with loopholes that grant far too much discretionary authority to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — who has proven he will exploit every measure possible, in defiance of the law, to keep the border open,” Johnson said in a statement sent to News Nation correspondent Ali Bradley.
Former President Donald Trump also criticized the bill on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday, stating that “[only] a fool” would vote to pass the legislation.
“This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party. It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans,” continued the former president.
On the other hand, the Border Patrol union said in a statement that is in support of the bill, noting that “[w]hile not perfect, the Border Act of 2024 is a step in the right direction and is far better than the status quo,” according to Fox News Correspondent Bill Melugin.
Hours after proclaiming on the Senate floor that “It’s now time for Congress to take action,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly urged fellow GOP senators in a closed-door meeting to vote against the first procedural vote on Wednesday, according to Fox 4 KDFW. Tensions were reportedly high during the meeting, with many of the leaders being divided on how to proceed with the current language in the bill.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MI) said earlier in the day that “the proposal is dead,” adding that it is unlikely to be passed later in the week, according to Fox 4.
However, the bill’s author, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), said the legislation could continue being worked on, adding, “Right now, it’s work in progress.”
“So I’m not willing to do a funeral on it — the House side, they’ve already conducted the funeral,” he said, per Fox 4.