The GOP has an opportunity next week to strike a deal on immigration so as to stem the tide of people and drugs illegally crossing our southern border. There’s one major factor, however, that is throwing a wrench into that opportunity: former President Donald Trump came out late last night to command Republican congressmen to refuse a deal unless they get “EVERYTHING” from Democrats. “I do not think we should do a Border Deal, at all, unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions and Millions of people,” he said on Truth Social.
Trump’s motive for doing so is not to preserve a perfect deal when it comes to immigration; rather, it is to forestall what would also be a win for President Joe Biden — and thus a knock on Trump’s own election chances come November.
As negotiations remain ongoing in Congress over a compromise on a border agreement and aid for Ukraine, more hardline Republicans are moving to follow Trump’s orders and give up on a deal for now. “So now it’s 11 months, 10 months before a general election and now you want to work with Republicans to do something about the southern border?” said GOP Rep. Troy Nehls, who has endorsed Trump, earlier today. Sen. Josh Hawley also told CNN Thursday, “I really think that if you want to change what is happening with the border, you are going to have to change administrations.”
Their hesitancy was accelerated by a leak of what was alleged to be a draft of the immigration deal. The alleged deal would be doomed to fail in both the House and Senate, given that it would allow 5,000 migrants a day into the country. But GOP senators, including Sen. James Lankford, have denied that the draft is genuine. “A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on,” he said on X, adding, “I also advise people not to believe everything you read on the internet.”
Other Republicans are underscoring that leverage on aid to Ukraine and the public’s low opinion of the Biden administration’s handling of the immigration crisis have created excellent conditions for finally passing significant legislation to curtail the endless onslaught of immigrants illegally crossing the southern border. Failing to capitalize on these circumstances, they warn, would be a mistake. On Wednesday, Sen. John Cornyn said, “You have to make hard choices sometimes in politics and in life,” he said. “And here the question is, ‘Do you want to get something that will help us stem the tide of humanity coming across the border and drugs? Or do you want to get nothing?’”
Sen. John Thune likewise noted that the filibuster would be a significant barrier against passing an immigration deal even in a Trump administration. “The Democrats will not give us anything close to this if we have to get 60 votes in the United States Senate in a Republican majority,” he said. “We have a unique opportunity here. And the timing is right to do this.”
Cornyn and Thune are right. Trump and his allies want to prioritize his election, but that should not come at the expense of Republicans’ ability to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants over the border. In fiscal year 2023, there were 2.5 million encounters of migrants, and our country simply cannot allow that situation to continue. Moreover, during Trump’s years in office, neither he nor the Republican Congress passed anything on immigration. He only got limited money for the border wall after he declared a national emergency following a 35-day government shutdown that failed to get any funding. Who’s to say the outcome would be different in a second term? Plus, unlike past negotiations on an immigration deal, the granting of citizenship is not on the table here, and, in a future situation, Democrats may insist upon it, as they have in the past.
In a circumstance that suggests a poor outlook on Republicans’ ability to pass a deal on immigration, House Speaker Mike Johnson has been involved in extensive communications with Trump about it. “[Trump] and I have been talking about this pretty frequently,” said Johnson on Fox News Wednesday night. In a possible sign of hope, however, the White House seemed to suggest that a deal could be reached, with one anonymous official telling Politico that talks between the White House and congressional leaders were “balanced and constructive.”
Now is Johnson’s time to act instead of falling into Trump’s repeated trap of forgoing action for the sake of imagined perfection.