Thursday, there was a Presidential Cowboy Showdown in Texas, as both former President Trump and President Biden visited the border state to discuss the state of our border.
When the cameras turned on at about 4 pm Eastern time, President Trump spoke first from Eagle Pass, TX, joined by Governor Abbott of Texas. Mr. Trump gave an extemporaneous speech from notes, speaking at length about the border crisis and what he would do to solve the problem.
As we’ve pointed out, the former President detailed how the current President unwound his border strategy through various Executive Orders, causing the current crisis.
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Mr. Trump then handed the microphone over to Governor Abbott, who did a ten-minute takedown of President Biden’s border policy that was something to see.
“All Joe Biden had to do to secure the border was to keep in place what President Trump put in place…instead, what Joe Biden did was sign executive orders eliminating all the effective policies that President Trump put in place,” said Abbott.
Biden next took the spotlight, delivering a speech from Brownsville directly after the Trump event. He took a moment to discuss the wildfires in El Paso, then read a prepared speech from the teleprompters in which he touted the already dead “National Security Border Bill” that was anything but that.
He wants the American people to believe that the largest foreign aid bill in the history of the United States, that sends $60B to Ukraine, $20B to Israel and Gaza, is really a border security bill.
His bill did little to stop the flow of illegal immigrants while making it much easier for the DHS Secretary to grant immediate asylum and process more and more illegal crossers into the United States faster. Exactly the opposite of the goal of creating a secure border.
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The second point President Biden attempted to make was likewise a fabrication. He tried to claim that his bill – which was immediately rejected by just about every Republican in the House and Senate, who were all shut out of any of the secret negotiations for that bill – is somehow a compromise solution.
Despite Senator Lankford’s support, the entire process. was rigged from the start to create the appearance of compromise rather than the reality of it.
Notedly, on the same day that the Texas showdown was happening, surprisingly moderate Democrat Senator John Fetterman was quoted as saying that the real compromise would be to start with the House’s bill – HR2 – which was passed in the House a year ago and merge it with the provisions in the President’s bill to gain a compromise border plan.
That would, in order to get more Democrats on board, be passed along with some aid for Ukraine.
Reportedly, H.R.2 contains the following provisions (among many others):
- Resumes border wall construction
- Requires US Customs & Border Protection to submit a 5-year technology investment plan to help with Border Security
- Requires CBP to maintain an active duty presence of 22,000 FTE agents on the border by 2025
- Prohibits DHS from processing illegal crossers, paying NGOs to assist unlawful activity, including sheltering illegal crossers
- Reforms and limits the ability of foreign nationals to apply for asylum, and only allows such application at a port of entry
- Increases the requirements to qualify as a refugee
- Expedites removal for individuals who are unlawfully present or unlawfully entered the United States
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This is the stated position of the Republicans of the House of Representatives, and has been on the desk of Majority Leader Schumer for a year. But somehow, all of its provisions were ignored in the “compromise” package cooked up by him, Minority Leader McConnell and the White House.
Here is what the Senate’s bill reportedly contains:
- Increased ICE detention capacity from 34,000 to 50,000
- When encounters approach 4,000 people a day, a power is granted to voluntarily turn people away at border stations
- Fast tracked asylum cases with tougher requirements
- $20B to hire more border agents
- $90B in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and Taiwan
So these are the current opening positions for a grand compromise. We should be able to come to some negotiated agreement that incorporates finishing the wall (with technological supplements like drones, cameras, etc.) to stop illegal crossings.
If that is in the compromise legislation, we can further limit the need for more detention facilities, judges and claims processing personnel, by also re-instating the Remain in Mexico policy. You do not get to enter America until a judge approves your asylum.
Finally, in terms of spending, we must radically limit the often spigot of money for foreign countries. Republican negotiators should start with the premise that for any dollar we spend on Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Taiwan or any other country, two dollars must be spent at the border.
Let’s aim for $20B for the border (mostly focused on border wall construction, technology improvements and additional border patrol agents) and $10B for whatever tomfoolery the defense contractors instruct their lackeys in Washington to spend.
Anything more for Ukraine or elsewhere should be offset by taking from the budgets of the CIA and the State Department, whose useless bureaucrats own the various crises they’ve helped to create around the globe.
Justin Weller is the Founder and Editor of The Country, and host of the podcast The Country with Justin Weller. Prior, he was a general manager and sales leader in startup and Big Tech firms, interned on Capitol Hill, and was a Contributing Editor at mxdwn.com. This piece is republished from The Country.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary and video are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Tampa Free Press.
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