Republicans powered a border security bill through the House on Thursday, saying they wanted to rush tools to help shut down the new wave of illegal immigrants pouring into the country with the end of the Title 42 pandemic expulsion policy.
President Biden’s promise to veto the bill, should it even make it through the Senate, didn’t phase the Republicans, who said they felt compelled to plug the holes he has left in the border.
The bill cleared on a 219-213 vote.
“We are doing the job the president refuses to do,” said Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican.
The legislation would restart border-wall construction, add more Border Patrol agents, reel in the administration’s expansive and legally iffy use of “parole” to welcome unauthorized migrants, tighten the rules on claiming asylum, and push to end the practice of catch-and-release.
It would also mandate businesses use E-Verify, a system that checks to make sure new hires are authorized to work in the U.S.
The bill would make it easier for the U.S. to deny entry to illegal immigrant juveniles who show up at the border without a parent — known in government-speak as Unaccompanied Alien Children.
The legislation also tightens asylum rules by specifying that general conditions of crime or gang violence in a home country can’t be valid claims for refuge, on par with religious or political persecution.
In addition, the GOP bill would erect a hurdle to migrants who flee their homes and travel through another country to reach the U.S.
The White House labeled the bill too harsh to illegal immigrants, saying some who do deserve protection could be blocked by the strict new asylum rules.
But Mr. Biden has also struggled to find answers to the unprecedented levels of illegal immigration at the border as he tries to navigate between deterrence and welcome.
Republicans said the result has been 27 months of crisis.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said the GOP’s border security bill is worse, calling it “cruel,” “inhumane” and “xenophobic.”
He honed in on a portion of the bill he said would punish charities for offering help to illegal immigrants.
“It would force the American Red Cross to verify every person’s immigration status before providing life-saving services. Can you imagine if they had to say ‘Show us your papers’ before evacuating people?” he said.
He also tried to tie the border security message behind the Republican bill to the man who is accused of plowing his vehicle into a crowd gathered outside a migrant shelter in Texas last weekend, killing eight of them.
Mr. Thompson said the suspect, who is Hispanic, may have been “fueled by ‘invasion’ and ‘alien’ rhetoric.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, called the GOP legislation a distraction. He suggested fentanyl is the chief danger and it is being brought across the border by U.S. citizens, not illegal immigrants.
He said Republicans are intentionally obfuscating the issue.
“They create a fictional argument around what’s happening at the border and then actually do nothing to solve the real problem,” he said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.