WASHINGTON – The republicans On Thursday they again blocked a proposal to limit the number of migrants who can request asylum on the border between Mexico and USAwhile the leader of the democrats In that chamber, Chuck Schumer was trying to revive a bill that failed to achieve even a simple majority when it was first introduced in February.
The law, negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators, was already rejected by a majority of Republicans in February when it was linked to a foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other US allies. But with immigration and border security becoming a major issue in this year's elections, Democrats are looking for a response to the chaos at the southern border over the White House's immigration policies. in the last three years.
“To those who have been saying for years that Congress must act on the border issue: This proposal is the answer, and it is time to show that we are serious about solving this problem,†said Schumer, D-New York. York, before the vote.
Express solution
Democrats are looking for an express solution a few months before the elections. Although the administration of President Joe Biden strives to minimize the crisis in the border Ensuring that the number of migrants has been reduced, figures from the Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reveal the entry of almost 2 million undocumented immigrants in just seven months of this year fiscal, which exceeds the total figure for 2021, the president's first year in the White House and the starting point of the current immigration chaos.
The latest CBP report reports 1,981,177 immigrant encounters nationwide from October 2023 to April 2024. The majority are single men 1,200,636; 702,690 families; 74,357 unaccompanied minors; and 3,494 accompanied children.
Millions of immigrants have arrived at border crossings during the Democratic administration, reflecting that the United States border is more insecure than ever. The total of irregular income from 2021 until last April is 9,905,422. The figure does not include those who have managed to escape from the authorities.
Democrats seek to maintain narrow majority
“Senators will face an important decision. “Will both sides come together to advance a bipartisan border security bill or will partisanship once again get in the way?” Schumer added.
Schumer is trying to defend a narrow Senate majority in this year's elections and sees Republicans' rejection of the deal they negotiated as a political “gift” to Democrats.
Although a majority of Democrats in the Senate again supported the procedure to begin debate on Thursday, the proposal failed by 43 votes to 43-50. When the proposal was raised in February, a test vote failed by 49 to 50 — well short of the 60 votes needed to advance.
Not even some of the authors of the proposal – Senators James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, and Kyrsten Sinema, independent of Arizona, voted in favor of Schumer's management.
“This is an attempt to annoy Republicans instead of saying, ‘How do we solve the problem?’†Lankford told reporters.
“Political maneuver”
Republican leaders spent much of the week denouncing the vote as a political maneuver and accusing President Joe Biden of being responsible for the historic number of immigrants who have arrived in the United States in recent years.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) said that the project promoted by Democrats would encourage undocumented immigration.
“The so-called border security bill is not a solution to the historic surge in illegal immigration that has invaded our borders since President Biden took office. “It is an attempt to shift the blame for this crisis away from the administration's policies.”
The organization added that it is not a solid or complete border security bill. “In fact, it is not a border security bill at all and would encourage even higher levels of illegal immigration.”
The legislation that Senate Democrats are trying to pass would be:
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Allow to up to 5,000 illegal aliens a day, 1.8 million a year, enter the United States, before the president is required to close the border.
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Demand that anyone seeking asylum be released into the country and granted work authorization almost immediately, thus encouraging further abuse of our asylum policies. A policy that the Biden administration has been implementing.
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Grant hundreds of millions in subsidies to NGOs that encourage and profit from mass illegal immigration.