On Sunday night, Senate negotiators released the text of the much-anticipated bipartisan border security bill after months of negotiations.
The House leadership is strongly opposed to the border bill, as are many conservatives in the Senate, including Utah Sen. Mike Lee. The $118 billion package seeks funding for foreign aid and the southern border as well as immigration reform.
Among Utah delegates, Rep. Burgess Owens applauded House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for “declaring this bill ‘Dead on Arrival’ in the House,” while Rep. Celeste Maloy and Rep. John Curtis suggested Congress should pivot away from the proposal because of the lack of support.
Owens, who represents Utah’s 4th District, in a statement said the bill “incentivizes further illegal immigration and ignores the root cause of this border crisis: Joe Biden.”
He blamed the Biden administration for border policies that he said have led to record-breaking illegal crossings, a lack of security and screenings at the entry points that allow the inflow of deadly drugs to the U.S., and strain border towns that are dealing with the repercussions of the surge in crossings.
“Reversing this administration’s failed policies doesn’t require an act of Congress — it demands that President Biden enforce current law,” Owens added.
For Reps. Curtis and Maloy, border bill doesn’t do enough
Maloy said in a statement to the Deseret News that Congress needs “to focus on solutions,” especially given the bill “appears to be going nowhere.”
“Securing the border should be a top priority, not an afterthought. It is clear that we are dealing with a historic national security and humanitarian crisis at our southern border,” Maloy, who represents the 2nd District, added.
Curtis said in a statement that he and a group of other Republican representatives are traveling to southern Arizona for a field hearing on the border crisis and its impact on federal lands later this week.
“I appreciate the renewed bipartisan interest in securing the border. That said, it has become clear by the reaction to the Senate bill that it doesn’t have broad support,” he said.
Curtis said, “Two things can be true at once: legislation can help secure the border and President Biden can take action today to curb the crisis under existing law.” He argued that since Biden hasn’t taken action, the House has moved to pass the Secure the Border Act, or HR2.
HR2 would restart construction of the border wall, deploy more Border Patrol agents, strengthen laws against human trafficking, and end the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policy while creating a stricter asylum process. The statement reiterated that the bill won’t be considered in the House in its present state.
“The Senate should consider the (House’s) bill, yet they still refuse to do so.” said Curtis.
On Wednesday, he introduced the Border Security State Reimbursement Act, which seeks to process refunds to “states for expenses associated with securing the United States borders.”
He said this would “ensure states aren’t unfairly burdened to protect their own citizens” in a letter Friday to Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, the House Appropriations Committee chair.
“Many Utahns do not feel safe due to the inflow of fentanyl and gang activity that crosses our border and ravages Utah communities large and small,” Curtis, who represents Utah’s 3rd District, wrote. “This must be addressed, and I will continue to do my part in Washington.”
Trump wants ‘a separate border and immigration bill’
Former President Donald Trump called for the border to be closed immediately in a post on Truth Social Monday morning. He added, “We need a separate Border and Immigration Bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape, or form!”
On Tuesday, the House voted on standalone $17.6 billion foreign aid for Israel, but the measure failed.
“Given the Senate’s failure to move appropriate legislation in a timely fashion, and the perilous circumstances currently facing Israel, the House will continue to lead,” Johnson wrote in a letter to colleagues on Saturday, per The Hill.
The White House strongly supports the Senate negotiated border security bill and encouraged its immediate passage in Congress, touting it as “the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border ... in decades,” in a statement Sunday.
President Joe Biden in his remarks Tuesday pointed a finger at Trump, who has opposed the bill, as the reason why the bill is stalled in the Senate.
“Because Donald Trump thinks it’s bad for him politically,” Biden said. “So, for the last 24 hours, he’s done nothing, I’m told, but reach out to Republicans in the House and the Senate to threaten them and try to intimidate them to vote against this proposal. And it looks like they’re caving.”
In the upper chamber, Senate leadership is backing the bill but several Republicans are staunchly opposed. On Tuesday morning, Utah Sen. Mike Lee joined a group of GOP senators in a press conference, where he said the bill doesn’t go far enough in terms of immigration reform and has “a whole lot of loopholes.”
He noted that many Republican lawmakers were already reluctant to approve more aid to Ukraine after the U.S. has spent more than every other country combined. Lee added that the proposal doesn’t include any elements of the House bill.