The House Judiciary Committee voted to advance a key border security and immigration bill after a 12-hour session on Wednesday, according to the Washington Examiner.
The move clears the first hurdle for House Republicans' efforts to pass a major border bill and fulfill their leadership's campaign promise to resolve the border crisis, the news outlet noted.
The committee voted 23-15 to advance the 130-page Border Security and Enforcement Act of 2023 to the House floor. The bill contains language from a series of legislative proposals that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., had vowed to fast-track.
In the battle for the speaker's post, McCarthy had promised to fast-track some dissenters' border bills.
The GOP has had to cope with infighting during the past three months over finding a solution to the crisis at the southern border the Examiner noted.
But during Wednesday's meeting, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, ripped Democrats for expressing concern when children were separated from parents at the border, noting the Biden administration lost track of 85,000 children.
"Your current system has 85,000 kids they can't find," he said. "What in the world?"
One of the bills authored by Roy required the DHS to "suspend the entry of any non-U.S. nationals [aliens under federal law] without valid entry documents during any period when DHS cannot detain such an individual or return the individual to a foreign country contiguous to the United States."
The measure effectively could end the catch-and-release program in the United States.
"Let's hope so. Let's just take this in steps. Anyone paying attention in America" — with the possible exceptions of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the congressman noted — "knows there's a massive crisis at the border," Roy told Newsmax in January while appearing on "Rob Schmitt Tonight."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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