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Monday April 18th, 2024
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House GOP Unveil New Border Bill Separate From Foreign Aid PackagesThe
bill is in separate legislation to the foreign aid funding for Ukraine
and Israel. The House is expected to vote on it later this week.
House GOP Unveil New Border Bill Separate From Foreign Aid Packages
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens as Speaker of the
House Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks during a press conference at President Trump's Mar-a-
in Palm Beach, Fla., on April 12, 2024.
Leaders in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives have introduced a new border security bill
to help appease Republicans who feel betrayed after Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) foreign aid
packages excluded stricter measures to battle the growing illegal immigration crisis at the southern Border.
U.S. Border Patrol has encountered more than 7.6 million illegal immigrants trying to cross the
border since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, with millions more gotaways
to have entered undetected.
Mr. Johnson revealed a series of foreign aid bills on April 17 totaling $95 billion in separate
funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and other Indo-Pacific partners.
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But despite his previous insistence that any foreign aid package for Ukraine include legislation
to address the growing number of people illegally flooding through U.S. borders, the latest version
of the bill has moved the border measures to separate legislation following an impasse with Democrats
on the issue. The House is expected to vote on the bill later this week.
According to Mr. Johnson, the border security bill is moving separately to the funding measures for
Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, and is an “aggressive” measure instrumental to the broader conversation about national security.
Legislation known as H.R. 2 was initially passed in the House last May and aims to reform the asylum
system with a priority to reduce frivolous applications while still keeping the U.S. border intact
the process of building more extensive border fortifications, require reporting on illegal activities of
Mexican drug cartels and foreign terrorist organizations at the border, clarify standards for keeping
families united in immigration detention, and reforming immigration parole rules, among other measures.
However, it has not passed the Senate.
“We’re gonna put the key elements of H.R. 2, which is our legislation that House Republicans passed
over a year ago; it’s been sitting on Chuck Schumer’s desk collecting dust as they mock it,” he said.
“We’re gonna reintroduce that, end catch and release, reinstate ‘Remain in Mexico,’ fix the broken
asylum process, fix the broken parole process (it’s been abused), rebuild portions of the wall.”
Some House Republicans Critical of Speaker
The move has received criticism from some of Mr. Johnson’s peers in the House, who are concerned
that because the foreign aid funding and border laws are separate, only the funding packages will
be passed in the Democrat-majority Senate, while the border laws will be dead on arrival.
Speaker Mike Johnson Addresses the Border Crisis on the House Floor
“It’s a theatrics, shiny object; it’s the shiny object for
Republicans that are saying, ‘We got to do something for the border,’”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said to the media following the
bill’s unveiling.
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, called it
“a joke,” “pretend,” and “theater.”
The White House has already announced its support for the packages,
with President Joe Biden saying he would “sign this into law
immediately to send a message to the world: ‘We stand with our friends,
and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.’
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“The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow,” he said.
President Biden did not specifically state his stance on the proposed border bill.
Since Mr. Johnson announced his plan to introduce new foreign aid on the floor on April 15, he has faced
pressure from at least two members of the Freedom Caucus—Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Thomas
Massie (R-Ky.)—to resign immediately, although former President Donald Trump has voiced his support for
the speaker who he said is in a difficult position. Mr. Johnson has said he has no plans to resign.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has indicated that Mr. Johnson could receive the support
of the Democrats if Republicans try to oust him. Mr. Johnson warned that Democrats would likely elect one
of their own.
“If the speaker will do the right thing and allow the House to have an up or down vote on the national
security bill, I believe that there are a reasonable number of Democrats who would not want to see the
speaker fall,” Mr. Jeffries said.
Joseph Lord contributed to this Rep
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