Opposition from party moderates threatens to derail plans by House Republicans plans to swiftly pass an immigration bill that would help reestablish control at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In December, then-House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., included the Border Safety and Security Act in a raft of legislation that Republicans intended to pass in their first two weeks in the majority, by sending them directly to the House floor, according to The Hill.
Under the act, the Homeland Security secretary would be empowered to expel migrants from the southern border to achieve "operational control." Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has often been accused by the GOP of failing to meet the legal standard by failing to secure the border.
The 2006 Secure Fence Act, which the Border Safety and Security Act references, defines operational control as "the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband."
"This language … I think it's very forgiving to use the word 'aspirational,'" Doris Meissner, who leads the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute, told The Hill. "It's unrealistic."
Enough Republicans are taking issue with the proposal's limitations on asylum that the bill is unlikely to gain traction.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, whose district sits on the U.S.-Mexico border, has cautioned that the legislation could impede valid asylum claims.
"One thing that is certain, H.R. 29, the Border Safety and Security Act, is not securing the border, and that is dead on arrival," Gonzales told "What America's Thinking." "That bill is not going to go anywhere for a wide variety of reasons. And I will do everything in my power to prevent anti-immigrant legislation from getting over the finish line."
Gonzales serves as co-chairman of the 18-member Congressional Hispanic Conference, a Republican caucus.
The GOP's narrow majority means that any bill lacking Democrat support can only afford to lose the support of up to five Republicans. Assuming it passed the House, the bill would face almost certain defeat in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Lead sponsor Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said there has been "misinformation" about the bill.
"This legislation does one thing: enforce current law to say that we have to detain for the entirety of the adjudication of a claim, an asylum claim," Roy told PBS this month. "Or turn away, like we do under current Title 42 law during a pandemic.
"Tony [Gonzales] ought to read the bill, and read current law."
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