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Schumer's Border Bill Redo Attempt Goes Up in Flames

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 23, 2024 4:15 PM

On Thursday afternoon, as promised by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the Senate voted on the border bill that already failed in February. As expected, the bill failed once more, with a vote of 43-50 in favor of advancing the legislation. Not only did it fail, but there were more senators against the bill this time than there were before. The vote was previously 49-50. 

The bill from February was the product of months of negotiations between Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and James Lankford (R-OK). This time, however, Sinema and Lankford voted against moving forward. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Laphonza Butler (D-CA) also were new "no" votes.

The vote, taking place just before the Memorial Day weekend, was expected from the start to surely fail. Even if it did somehow pass the Senate, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and the rest of House Republican leadership have repeatedly reminded that the bill would be "dead on arrival."

Even with the result being an expected one, Schumer still took to social media to lament the outcome and throw out accusations against Republican opposed to the bill. Of course, members of his own party opposed it as well. 

House Republicans have passed stronger measures that would actually do something to fix the crisis at the southern border. Just over a year ago now, the House passed HR 2, the Secure the Border Act. There was some bipartisan support from House Democrats, and even Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) expressed willingness to support of the bill. 

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A pinned post from Republicans on the House Committee on Homeland Security calls to mind the passage of HR 2. The Committee has also posted and reposted about the need for real border security.

Among the criticisms of the Senate border bill includes how the bill will not actually do anything for border security. 

NumbersUSA CEO James Massa also provided Townhall with a statement explaining further how bad the bill is. 

"To frame the Senate bill as 'tough on illegal immigration' is an insult to anyone who has read the bill and the height of political cynicism. The American people demand and deserve much better than this," he said, also highlighting how it has to do with the election. "In what can only be described as an election-year political stunt, the Senate border bill failed to pass for a second time today. Every Senator who voted to advance this legislation in effect affirmatively pledged support for continued illegal immigration and President Biden's abuse of his executive powers regarding immigration policy. Although H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, passed by the House of Representatives last May, would actually bring an end to the border crisis, not one provision from it was included."

"The Senate bill codifies catch-and-release each year of up to 510,000 inadmissible aliens into law and increases legal immigration by 250,000 over five years.The Senate bill was the opposite of being tough illegal immigration. The truly bipartisan aspect of this bill was that significant representation of Senators by both parties voted to defeat it," Massa also explained. 

While the White House has gone back and forth teasing about President Joe Biden executive action on the border, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre still continues to push a bad bill. During Wednesday's press briefing, Jean-Pierre was awfully dismissive about the idea of the president stepping in to actually do something.

"But why should he have to do it unilaterally," Jean-Pierre wondered during her back and forth with a reporter. "What I will say is it is long past time to get this done, to get this moving. We were able to get a bipartisan negotiation--a plan forward on an issue that many Americans care about, an issue that matters for our immigration system, for what’s happening at the border. And that’s a good thing," Jean-Pierre also claimed, as if the bill wasn't so disastrous. 

Speaking about Schumer, Jean-Pierre offered that "the senator is--is very good at this. He’s very good at dealing with big legislation, obviously, as we’ve been able to move important legislation through over the past three and a half years. So, I’m going to let him speak to that." With such comments, one wouldn't that the bill was about to fail as spectacularly as it did. 

Biden's taken plenty of executive actions, including on his very first day in office, to make the crisis even worse, while Jean-Pierre and others then go on to blame Republicans. 

Again, such a vote has to do with the deeply unpopular incumbent president and vulnerable Democratic incumbents being up for reelection. "The Senate voted down the bipartisan border bill Thursday, marking the second time it has been blocked in a matter of months as Democrats look to shore up their political troubles and give President Biden and incumbent senators a boost in the process," coverage from The Hill began. 

Among those voting in favor of the bill included Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who is facing Republican Bernie Moreno in a true "Toss-Up" race.

Moreno was quick to release a statement. "Sherrod Brown has spent his decades-long political career supporting amnesty and allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to come into our country, take jobs away from Ohioans and drive down the wages of the workers that Sherrod claims to support," he noted. "Brown sat back as he watched Joe Biden reverse the 94 executive orders that secured our border. If he really wanted to stop the illegal invasion of our country, he’d push to have those executive orders reinstated. No matter how hard Brown tries to cover his tracks with a Border Bill In Name Only, Ohioans know that he puts illegal immigrants first and Ohioans last."