The Senate border deal officially imploded Wednesday as Republicans mounted a filibuster, saying the agreement they helped negotiate was too much of a stinker.
The failed endeavor calls into question whether Congress has any path forward before the November elections for new immigration laws or tens of billions of dollars in aid to Israel and Ukraine, which was coupled with the border provisions.
The vote was 49-50, well shy of the 60 votes needed to proceed.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer then called a second vote to take up a bill including money for Israel and Ukraine but without the border deal. That idea fared a little better, but fell just shy of the 60 votes needed, with most Republicans opposed.
Mr. Schumer said he would try again Thursday, saying he figured he would “give our Republican colleagues the night to figure themselves out.”
Ahead of the border vote Mr. Schumer lashed out at Republicans, saying they chose to “cower to Donald Trump’s orders.”
“Donald Trump doesn’t like that the Senate finally reached a bipartisan border deal, so he has demanded Republicans kill it. He thinks it is far better to keep the border in chaos so he can exploit it for personal political gains,” Mr. Schumer said.
Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, called Mr. Schumer’s claim “fake outrage.”
He said the deal left too much in the hands of President Biden. Republicans said Mr. Biden subverted immigration laws and created the border mess despite having the same tools as Mr. Trump did in the White House.
“We have no confidence — zero confidence — that the Biden administration will enforce the law when it comes to the border,” Mr. Cornyn said.
The border deal, negotiated by one Republican, one Democrat and one independent senator, would have created a new expulsion authority for when the flow of illegal immigrants crossed certain thresholds, expanded the government’s deportation machinery, stiffened asylum standards, and reined in some Biden administration catch-and-release practices.
It delayed deadlines for border wall construction, included hundreds of thousands of new guest workers, gave a path to citizenship to Afghans airlifted out in the chaotic 2021 U.S. troop withdrawal and granted government-funded attorneys to illegal immigrant children. It did not include the legalization of “Dreamers” or other illegal immigrants.
Supporters said they were convinced the legislation would reduce the record flows of illegal immigrants at the border, though they were unable to estimate by how much.
“It definitely makes a difference,” said Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the Republicans’ chief negotiator.
Nine senators bucked their parties during the vote.
Among those voting against the bill were five Democrats: Edward J. Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Alex Padilla of California and Bernard Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan M. Collins of Maine and Mr. Lankford were the Republicans voting for the bill.
Mr. Schumer switched his vote to no, a procedural maneuver that leadership often takes on failed measures that allows them to be reconsidered later.
Opponents said the changes might shift the demographics of new arrivals, but they doubted the overall numbers would fall much, which they said undercut the reasons for the bill in the first place.
Mr. Cornyn said the proposal allowed Mr. Biden to conduct catch-and-release of new border migrants and preserved some of his powers of “parole,” which he has used to admit more than 1.5 million unauthorized migrants.
Republicans’ ire was matched on the left by immigrant rights activists, who saw the deal as a return to the “cruel” and “xenophobic” policies of Mr. Trump.
They had excoriated Mr. Biden for embracing the deal. They called it a betrayal of his campaign promise to reverse Mr. Trump’s policies and complained about the deal’s lack of legal status for illegal immigrants.
Even if the deal cleared the Senate, it would have been torpedoed in the House by liberals and conservatives alike.
Mr. Menendez said Hispanic lawmakers were entirely shut out of the negotiations, which he said would have been like leaving Black lawmakers out of crafting a voting rights bill.
The money for Israel included in the package was also likely a factor in some of the Democratic votes in opposition.
Other Democrats said they voted to move forward Wednesday as a sign of commitment to the process but didn’t support the actual bill.
The border agreement’s collapse left senators wondering whether this Congress could reach big deals on other pressing matters.
Lawmakers are still trying to finish the annual spending bills for fiscal 2024, which are four months late, and will immediately have to work on the 2025 bills due by Sept. 30.
Fingers pointed every which way this week as the border deal collapsed, but who killed it perhaps is less important than whom the public will blame for the ongoing chaos at the border.
For the past several years, that blame has fallen squarely on Democrats, and Republicans said it should remain there.
“Make no mistake about it, this is the Biden border crisis,” said Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican. “This was totally avoidable. When he came into office, he reversed all the policies of the previous administration, and now we’re seeing the results of that, has been absolute onslaught at our southern border. It is completely, completely out of control.”
Democrats said Republicans should be blamed for sinking the deal.
“You own this,” said Rep. James McGovern, Massachusetts Democrat.
The second vote, featuring the foreign aid without the border deal, was what Republicans rejected months ago before negotiations.
After souring on the border component, Senate Republican leaders conceded that may be the only avenue to get U.S. aid to allies battling adversaries at their doorsteps.
“First, Republicans said they would only do Ukraine and Israel [and] humanitarian aid with border. Then, they said they would not do it with border,” Mr. Schumer said. “We’re going to give them both options.”
Even if the chamber musters enough support to greenlight the aid, it is almost certainly dead on arrival with House Republicans because of their opposition to more money for Ukraine.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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