Fox’s first appearance: The White House is targeting Congressional Republicans, claiming they “sided with fentanyl traffickers” by opposing a bipartisan border deal earlier this year — as the bill returns to the Senate. In the days before it is introduced, Republican opponents are likely to face a tough situation in the Senate.
The White House has touted the bill, which would fund border operations and include mechanisms to halt entry into the US if encounters reach a certain level. The bill failed 49-50 in a test vote in February, falling short of the 60 votes needed to move forward. But in a letter to senators dated Sunday evening, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) said: Revealed plans to bring Submit the bill to the floor again.
The core of this bill is New temporary emergency border authority Requires Title 42-style immigrant deportations if immigration levels exceed 5,000 people per day on a seven-day rolling average. It would also narrow asylum eligibility while speeding up the process, grant additional work permits to asylum seekers, and fund a significant increase in border staffing and other resources.
Conservatives have rejected it, saying it doesn’t go far enough and would normalize already high levels of illegal immigration, but the Biden administration has consistently voiced support for the bill, saying it would give the administration more power to address the border crisis, and has accused Republicans of rejecting it for political purposes.
Republicans unite to block White House and Schumer-backed ‘fake border bill’
President Joe Biden delivers a speech on immigration and border security at Brownsville Station on Feb. 29, 2024, in Olmito, Texas. (Photo by Cheney Orr/Getty Images)
In a memo first obtained by Fox News Digital, Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said President Biden has made cracking down on fentanyl a top priority and the bill would cross the border for the deadly illegal drug. He said it would be a major step in cracking down on smuggling.
“And fighting back against the illegal fentanyl epidemic is one of many compelling reasons to support the toughest, most fair, bipartisan border security legislation in modern history,” he said.
Illegal fentanyl is primarily manufactured in Mexico using Chinese precursors and then smuggled across the U.S. border. Bates highlighted a provision in the bill that would fund 100 machines to detect fentanyl in vehicles attempting to enter the United States.
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“This bill also creates new legislation for thousands of people at our border to operate these machines and work to stop fentanyl from entering our country and costing more innocent lives.” “It also provides for the employment of enforcement staff,” he said.
He noted that supporters of the bill, including Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), had highlighted those measures when announcing the deal. Lankford was one of just four members of his party to vote in February to move the bill forward under negotiation. It is unclear whether he will support it again.
“But instead of supporting the bill approved by the Border Security Coalition, Congressional Republicans sided with fentanyl traffickers,” Bates wrote in the memo. “Rather than working across the aisle to stop fentanyl trafficking, most Republican lawmakers blocked legislation designed to save American lives from fentanyl.”
EL MONTE, CA – APRIL 6: A message appears on a sign erected by Families Against Fentanyl on the I-10 Freeway near Peck Road on Thursday, April 6, 2023 in El Monte, California. (Photo by Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
Bates accused Republicans of opposing the bill “totally apolitical” and under pressure from former President Donald Trump, propelling it to a vote in the Senate later this week.
“So Congressional Republicans have a choice to make: Will they once again decide that politics is more important than stopping fentanyl traffickers and saving the lives of innocent voters?” he said.
“Joe Biden knows where he stands,” he added.
Trump-era Homeland Security official slams Senate bill as ‘disaster’ for border security
Republicans are united in their opposition to the bill, denying that their opposition is political and arguing that it entrenches an existing and historic crisis.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) last week discussed the possibility of reviving the bill, telling Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that Democrats had not acted in good faith during negotiations.
“Democrats were always negotiating a political cover for their failed border bill,” he wrote to X.
“That would still be the case even if we decided to introduce the bill again. This was a terrible bill. That’s why it died within 24 hours of being introduced,” he added. .
“The fake border bill will fail yet again, because instead of seriously securing our borders, it will only entrench outrageous levels of illegal immigration,” the tweet, formerly known as Twitter, said in a statement. wrote Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on the platform
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), Majority Leader Tom Emmer (R-MN), and Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (NY) ) said in a statement, “Chairman Schumer said the following.” He is trying to cover vulnerable members of Congress by voting on a bill that once failed in the Senate, but which would actually codify much of Biden’s disastrous open borders policy that created this crisis in the first place. That’s why.
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Instead, they are seeking passage of the border security bill passed by the House last year. The bill would continue funding for the border wall and end parole processing into the United States, among other provisions.
“If Senate Democrats were serious about actually solving the problem and ending the border catastrophe, they would bring up HR2 and pass it this week,” they said.
FOX News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
