Maybe there are three dividends that Republicans are reaping from their victory over liberals during the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court fight. The base is jacked up for the midterms, we confirmed Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, giving conservatives a SCOTUS majority for the next generation, and it allowed the House GOP leadership to get some chutzpah on fighting illegal immigration. Yes, you read that, right? We’ve demanded a wall, going after sanctuary cities, securing the border, and enforcing current federal immigration laws. Now, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) pretty much promised full legislative offensive against illegal immigration (via CBS News):
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy says he will introduce a bill this week to fully fund a border wall between the United States and Mexico. Building the wall is a campaign promise and rallying cry for President Trump, whose support McCarthy may be seeking as the frontrunner to be the next speaker of the House.
McCarthy is sponsoring the "Build the Wall, Enforce the Law Act," which would dedicate over $23 billion to building the border wall. The bill would also include measures to cut off funds for sanctuary cities and to facilitate deportation and detention of immigrant gang members. Breitbart, a right-wing news site, first reported that McCarthy would introduce the bill.
"For decades, America's inability to secure our borders and stop illegal immigration has encouraged millions to undertake a dangerous journey to come here in violation of our laws and created a huge loophole to the legal channels to the immigration process where America welcomes immigrants to our country," he said in a statement to Breitbart.
Congress has already given $1.6 billion to build the wall, although Mr. Trump has often said at rallies that this is insufficient funding. According to Breitbart, McCarthy is hoping to leverage his bill as an issue in the midterm elections in order to rally Trump-supporting Republican voters.
We’ll see what happens. It’s promising that the GOP is moving on this, but as always—watch out for the moderate wing to foul things up for us. We very well could fumble the football at the goal line. But at least there’s some movement on an issue, where Trump and the GOP have to deliver. We botched a full repeal of Obamacare, which still stings—but this is a wall. It’s not an expensive proposal considering what gets passed nowadays. It’s clear-cut. If we cannot get a wall built to help secure our borders, what good are you, GOP.