January 04, 2024 02:16 PM UTC

Republicans Game Border Crisis To Screw Biden In 2024

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• by: Colorado Pols

Over the past few months and intensifying significantly in recent weeks, tens of thousands of migrants who arrived at the southern U.S. border seeking humanitarian asylum and better economic opportunity have been transported to Denver by the government of Texas, leaving the city to manage the expense of caring for migrants who are in most cases unable to legally work and therefore dependent on government services for their most essential needs. With the continuing arrival of thousands more immigrants every week at the border, everyone agrees in theory that a better system for processing legitimate asylum claims and denying entry to obviously ineligible migrants is a priority.

In the U.S. Senate, just as he was a decade ago during the ambitious but ill-fated “Gang of Eight” negotiations on comprehensive immigration reform, Colorado’s Sen. Michael Bennet has been hard at work through the holidays hammering out a bipartisan immigration reform proposal. MSNBC’s Steve Benen writes today about the ongoing effort:

The negotiations between Democratic, Republican, and independent senators over the last two months have been difficult and contentious. Democrats want to advance an emergency package that would provide support for, among others, U.S. allies in Ukraine. Republicans have balked, saying they’d only consider the aid package if Democrats agree to far-right immigration and border policies.

This was, and is, a highly provocative position. GOP officials have effectively said they’re prepared to make it easier for Russia to take part of eastern Europe by force unless the White House and the Senate majority accept unrelated conservative goals.

While the original goal was to work out an agreement before the end of December, that obviously didn’t happen. That said, independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who’s involved in the negotiations, told reporters this week that members are “closing in” on a deal. Time will tell whether the Arizonan’s optimism proves true…

Yesterday, GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson staged a press conference from the border at Eagle Pass, Texas, an event long on blame but conspicuously lacking any sign that the Freedom Caucus-driven GOP majority wants to make any real progress. AP:

The trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, came as the Senate engages in delicate negotiations in hopes of striking a deal on border policies that could unlock Senate GOP support for Biden’s $110 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. security priorities.

But Johnson, R-La., told The Associated Press during the border tour that he was holding firmly to the policies of a bill passed by House Republicans in May without a single Democratic vote. The bill, H.R. 2, would revive many of the policies pursued by former President Donald Trump, build more of the border wall and impose new restrictions on asylum seekers. Democrats called the legislation “cruel” and “anti-immigrant,” and Biden promised a veto.

To be clear, as with a number of other ideological “message bills” passed by the GOP-controlled House last year, the hard-line immigration bill known as HR2 is a complete nonstarter in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate–not so much a serious proposal as a wish list of sadistic punishments against asylum seekers and other migrants that would result in the deportation of millions of people–creating a humanitarian crisis dwarfing anything happening on the border today. To add insult to injury, Republicans even included more money for ex-President Donald Trump’s failed border wall in the bill, ensuring that no Democrat will touch it with a ten-foot pole.

Unfortunately for Mike Johnson’s wannabe Border Patrol stunt yesterday, a stunt Colorado Republican state lawmakers have been pulling for years to stoke fear of immigrants ahead of the next election, on the very same day, CNN quoted one of Johnson’s own Texas subordinates saying, as the expression goes, “the quiet part out loud.” Here’s GOP Rep. Troy Nehls, representing suburban Houston, telling the only truth that matters about Republican immigration posturing:

“Let me tell you, I’m not willing to do too damn much right now to help a Democrat and to help Joe Biden’s approval rating,” [Pols emphasis] Rep. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, told CNN. “I will not help the Democrats try to improve this man’s dismal approval ratings. I’m not going to do it…”

Speaker Johnson knows that HR2 will never pass the Senate, and therefore the only way forward is with a compromise that can pass both chambers and be signed by President Joe Biden into law. However if we take Rep. Nehls at his word, this isn’t about resolving the immigration issue at all, but rather inflicting political pain on a Democratic president ahead of an election.

Once you understand that, there’s no moral high ground left for Mike Johnson and House Republicans to stand on. At this point, no one can argue that the problem is real and in need of a solution unhindered by political aims. Now that Republicans have admitted that the reason they won’t come to the table for a solution is that they don’t want a solution as long as a Democrat is President, they officially own the crisis.

We didn’t know Troy Nehls’ name until yesterday. The time has come for every American watching the evening news to meet him.