The G.O.P. abandoned a bipartisan border security bill that also aided Ukraine after Democrats called their bluff on immigration, agreeing to tough measures Republicans demanded.

The G.O.P. abandoned a bipartisan border security bill that also aided Ukraine after Democrats called their bluff on immigration, agreeing to tough measures Republicans demanded.

Congressional Republicans thought they had set a clever trap for Democrats that would accomplish complementary political and policy goals.

Their idea was to tie approval of military assistance to Ukraine to tough border security demands that Democrats would never accept, allowing Republicans to block the money for Kyiv that many of them oppose while simultaneously enabling them to pound Democrats for refusing to halt a surge of migrants at the border. It was to be a win-win headed into November’s elections.

But Democrats tripped them up by offering substantial — almost unheard-of — concessions on immigration policy without insisting on much in return. Now it is Republicans who are rapidly abandoning a compromise that gave them much of what they wanted, leaving aid to Ukraine in deep jeopardy, border policy in turmoil and Congress again flailing as multiple crises at home and abroad go without attention because of a legislative stalemate.

The turn of events led to a remarkable Capitol Hill spectacle this week as a parade of Senate Republicans almost instantly repudiated a major piece of legislation they had spent months demanding as part of any agreement to provide more help to a beleaguered Ukraine. Even Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader and foremost Republican advocate of helping Ukraine, and Senator James Lankford, the Oklahoma Republican who invested months in cutting the border deal, suggested they would vote to block it on the floor in a test vote set for Wednesday.

Non-paywall link

  • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
    201·
    9 months ago

    Any president can shut down the border at will, Nixon and Reagan dabbled in it, obviously Trump did, it’s not some unheard of precedent.

    Perhaps more importantly, it’s not some sort of precedent like the supreme Court codifying or later overturning roe versus Wade. “Closing the border” is not numerically effective, is subject to change according to every administration, this does not tie foreign aid together with southern border crossing closures, and it’s ridiculous to think that the Biden administration isn’t aware of that, especially since only one third of illegal immigrants come through that southern border.

    This is a simple Democratic win-win counter-move to idiot conservative attempts to stop funding Ukraine to resist Russia.

    Republicans gambled that Biden would never agree to stricter immigration controls, and so the Republicans would be able to kneecap US support of Ukraine, proving they don’t understand anything about border control, immigration, politics or logic.

    This is about as easy a win for Biden to prove how spineless and how many of the Republicans are acting in bad faith, as well as to stop gap a real, though not fundamental or critical issue.

    There are finite resources to be distributed, the US doesn’t have a robust immigration system or a social care system in place, and every year, over 10 million people, or about 3% of the US population, illegally enters the United States.

    Biden agrees to a measure that, while dumb, forces Republicans to either follow their deal or prove publicly, in an election year that Republican politicians are even less trustworthy than you may have thought.

    With the major fracturing going on right now within the Republican party, the Republicans are basically handing Biden an easy and major political win by abandoning one of the central party they have campaigned on and many people voted for them because of.

    Republicans who vociferously advocated for border reform are now withdrawing in droves after having their demands met, further cementing how pathetically partisan the republicans really are, that they have no ethics or social responsibility, all they’re trying to do is make somebody else look bad and get their guys back in the right chairs.

    With the United States population growing by 3% every year, and those 3% not being a part of the system that can recognize, employ, benefit from the significant value that immigrants add (and have always added) to the United States, agreeing to funding expanded border enforcement is a win-win for the Democrats.

    They prove they’re willing to work with Republicans, it does stop gap what is an important, though nowhere near critical issue in the United States, and the Republicans look like absolutely untrustworthy fools in an uncommonly important election year.

    All the Democrats have to do is look like they’re taking the higher road, and they technically are, and they get everything they want whether the Republicans honor their word, which was unlikely, or the Republicans run away because their scheme was exposed, which is happening.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
      219·
      9 months ago

      Progressives lose either way.

      Either Ukraine doesn’t get aid, or the border is shut when we have a Republican president forever.

      Which means those crossing illegally will wait for Dem presidents.

      Giving republicans the narrative that Dems are soft on immigration.

      We’re handing them something to campaign on for generations, and they’d actually have data to back it up.

      It’s a bad move, not just today, but the rest of America’s existence

      • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
        111·
        9 months ago

        That doesn’t really bear out.

        Again, this is not a precedent or codification of border control.

        By your logic, anytime there was a conservative president, our southern border should have been closed forever.

        Obviously it has not been.

        Unauthorized immigrants are not very concerned whether or not you are democrat or Republican or whether your president is, they wants to get across the giant, giant border and they consistently get across the giant, giant, giant border, especially if economic opportunities back home are less then promising.

        This deal gives the impression that Democrats are tough on immigration, since this is the most funding ever agreed to by a liberal administration to border enforcement. I believe by any administration.

        I’m not sure who “they” are or what “data” you’re talking about, but this is a very simple counter move to a foolish par- for- the- course gamble by conservatives that has backfired splendidlyb against conservatives in a very important election year.

        The only future ramifications I can see are the Democrats looking proactive on immigration, which is an accumulative issue that the United States does have to reform eventually anyway.

        This is a very smart, cost-effective, and powerful move by the Biden administration.

        • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
          211·
          9 months ago

          So your argument is this does absolutely nothing…

          Then why is Biden repeatedly saying he needs it?

          Are you not only smarter than me but also you’re smarter than Biden?

          Or is Biden as smart as you and just openly lying that he needs this?

          • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
            101·
            9 months ago

            Approving this bill has several important consequences.

            This provides an immigration stop gap while an administration comes up with a good idea for border reform, since border reform is a significant, although not critical bipartisan issue.

            This deal provides needed funding for a number of more critical issues, chiefly military aid forUkraine resisting Russia, as well as aid for US allies in Asia to counter heavy Chinese ally investment, and humanitarian aid for Gaza and Israel Ukraine

            The deal also exposes Republicans to be bad faith actors, when they should be at least dedicated to their issues and the unified conservative minority is a significant danger because of the tainted supreme court and lower court judges.

            Conservatives have no legitimate political interests currently, but people need to see that first hand, and this deal has provided the perfect opportunity.

            For the Biden administration specifically, this coincidentally also gives them great leverage in an uncommonly important election year.

            I can’t be sure about being smarter than you or Biden.

            I can be sure that even if you need something, you don’t always get it.

            For example, contrary to the needs of many, Trump was elected in 2016. Nobody needed that.

            • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
              210·
              9 months ago

              You’re talking about the whole bill.

              Why?

              Can you just not answer why Biden insists he needs the bit about presidents unilaterally shutting the border down if it doesn’t do anything?

              • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
                61·
                9 months ago

                I’m talking about the whole bill because that’s the context of our conversation so far, and you haven’t mentioned you want to minimize the conversation to a specific topic.

                I’m not familiar with Biden saying he specifically needs certain presidential authorities to unilaterally shut down the border.

                Can you give me an in-context quote specifically about the part of the bill you are concerned with?

                I understand a few reasons why any administration would want to codify a major action that might be necessary more often in the future, but I think I’ll need more context for what you were talking about since you seem focused on something specific.

                • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  34·
                  9 months ago

                  I’m not familiar with Biden saying he specifically needs certain presidential authorities to unilaterally shutting down the border.

                  Here you go:

                  “What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said Friday night. “It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”

                  Biden, who has recently expressed optimism that a bipartisan deal could come soon, reiterated that the border is “broken” and argued that “it’s long past time to fix it.”

                  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-promises-shut-border-authority-bipartisan-bill-rcna135980

                  It was a pretty big story, and very recent…

                  Maybe you shouldn’t put so much energy into defending Biden if you’re unaware of what he’s doing and saying

                  Because seriously, your defenses in this thread are pretty much the opposite of what Biden is saying. Where did you even get that stuff?

                  Are you just rationalizing whatever Biden does instead of taking the time to find out why he says he’s doing it?

                  That’s what Republicans do…

                  Just blindly rationalize their teams actions.

                  • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
                    51·
                    9 months ago

                    Haha, maybe you shouldn’t pretend he says things he didn’t?

                    You kept telling me that Biden asserted that he needed this bill. That is not in the quote you provided.

                    Biden is saying that if the deal passes, he can legally shut down the border, which as I mentioned in the last comment, I can think of several reasons is a good thing.

                    The quote you provide corresponds exactly to what I said in previous comments.

                    Do you want to ask a different question?

                    Or ask for clarification?

                    I don’t see how providing this quote which almost exactly corroborates my first point about being a stop gap for an overwhelming amount of illegal immigrants, clarifies anything.

                    Yes, part of this deal gives the president legal authority to shut down the border.

                    Is that your question?

                    You said your question was why did Biden say he needed the bill, but he doesn’t say that.