The Senate voted down a bipartisan immigration reform package a second time, after Donald Trump urged Republicans to kill the bill to prevent a political win by his November opponent.
The bill, which would upgrade the asylum-seeking process, toughen border enforcement and increase security presence, and streamline deportations, ending the so-called “catch and release” practice, was carefully designed to reach across the aisle.
But in January, Trump vowed to kill the bill, negotiated by Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), sending GOP congressmen and senators to sink the compromise to keep Biden from quashing a key concern for voters in border states.
The 43-50 vote, more than a dozen shy of the necessary 60 to overcome a filibuster, was expected, with nearly all Republicans voting down the package, attempting to position the party as tougher on immigration issues.
“If Republicans were truly serious about calling the situation at the border an emergency, they shouldn't delay any longer. You can't call something an emergency one day and then suddenly kick the can down the road the next day,” Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) told his colleagues ahead of the vote. “So, to all those who have said for years we must act on the border, this is the chance to show you're serious about fixing the problem.”
Senate Republicans, who’ve proposed reforms in the last year much like those in the bill, say it’s a no-go, citing the Biden administration’s response to an influx of arrivals at the southern border and Majority leader Schumer’s attempts to deliver a political win for his party.
“This [vote] is about political messaging, and they understand it’s a big political vulnerability for them and I get why he’s doing what he’s doing,” John Thune, a Republican Senator from South Dakota said, before voting against the bill.
Sen. Lankford, the Republican who co-authored the plan, expressed frustration in his coworkers' vote on the bill, saying on the Senate floor that the plan is "no longer a bill and now it's just a prop." He argued that Democrats were only bringing his bill to a vote for political "messaging."
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