Wisconsin House Republicans defend opposition of Senate border deal
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A bipartisan border security deal brokered by Senate leaders and the Biden administration does not have the support needed to pass in the House. Wisconsin Republicans on Tuesday defended their opposition and denied it was influenced by former President Donald Trump, who has publicly slammed the proposal.
Details of the Senate agreement became public Sunday. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma helped negotiate the $118 billion package with White House officials and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The plan combined aid for Ukraine ($60 billion) and Israel ($14 billion) along with $20 billion in funding for enhanced border security. The Senate plan also includes triggers for closing the southern border during extreme surges in migrant traffic.
If there is an average of 4,000 migrant encounters per day over a seven-day period, the Homeland Security secretary would have the option of closing the border. If the average reaches 5,000 encounters per day over a seven-day span, the southern border would automatically close.
A bill that addressed multiple aspects of border security without making sweeping changes to legal immigration policy was a concession Biden and Democrats previously had not been willing to make. For House Republicans, it didn't go far enough to stem traffic along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell noted the union for the Border Patrol supported the Senate package, but he told reporters Tuesday House Speaker Mike Johnson had indicated the plan would be dead on arrival in the House.
"It's been made pretty clear to us by the Speaker that it will not become law," McConnell said.
Wisconsin House members Rep. Bryan Steil and Rep. Tom Tiffany told CBS 58 they weren't moved by the triggers because of what they considered to be loopholes.
"In the most important provision, the president could waive the provision of shutting down the border," Steil said. "Which tells you the behavior of this president would remain consistent. He would continue to allow the U.S.-Mexico border to remain unsecured."
Under the Senate plan, the president does have the power to waive the emergency triggers but only for a maximum of 45 days within a calendar year.
On Tuesday, Tiffany criticized Lankford and McConnell's willingness to accept the Senate proposal.
"I don't understand for the life of me why they did that," he said. "It appears to me Senator McConnell was probably more focused on getting the $60 billion to Ukraine."
On Tuesday, Biden blasted House Republicans' opposition to the agreement and indicated his re-election campaign will seek to blame Republicans for the federal failure to address a rise in illegal immigration across the southern border.
"Every day between now and November, the American people are gonna know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends," Biden said.
When asked how much of his opposition was influenced by Trump publicly slamming the border deal, Tiffany said, "none of it."
"I know many people are trying to portray it that way, but I helped write [the House border bill.] I helped write the immigration parole part of H.R. 2," Tiffany said.
Tiffany referred to a border security bill House Republicans passed last May. It required the Department of Homeland Security to build at least 900 miles of border wall and mandated employers to use a new worker eligibility verification system. The proposal increased fines for businesses that hired illegal immigrants.
In Wisconsin, the community of Whitewater has been particularly affected by the rise in migrant traffic over the last two years. City leaders publicly asked the White House for help in December, citing the arrival of between 800 and 1,000 migrants, mostly from Nicaragua and Venezuela, since early 2022.
Steil said Tuesday if the White House and Senate Democrats did not take up the House border bill, the issue would carry into the November election. When asked if he would lead a push in Congress to secure federal aid for communities struggling with migrant arrivals, such as Whitewater, Steil again blamed Biden.
"The answer here is to secure the U.S.-Mexico border," Steil said. "That is priority number one."