4 things to know about Rep. Gabe Vasquez's immigration resolution

Apr. 16—New Mexico Congressman Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat, is trying to draw attention to border security and immigration policy with a resolution he introduced last week "condemning Republican inaction to address comprehensive immigration reform and border security."

Here are four things to know about the resolution:

1. What is the resolution and why does Vasquez support it?

The resolution points out that the immigration system has not been "comprehensively updated" since 1986 and lists occasions when Democrats' legislation around immigration system reform and border security spending have failed after Republican opposition.

The measure is co-sponsored by Andrea Salinas, D-Ore.; Steven Horsford, D-Nev.; Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill.; Abigail Spanberger, D-Va.; and Pat Ryan, D-N.Y.

Vasquez has been pushing a package of immigration and border related bills, including legislation that would provide more funding for border screening measures.

"I've been leading an effort to provide emergency funding to the border for nearly a year now that Republicans haven't allowed a vote on," Vasquez said. "And finally, Josh Hawley, one of the most conservative senators, helped draft a comprehensive bipartisan border security bill in February that Speaker (Mike) Johnson and far-right Republicans killed, opting to keep immigration alive as a campaign issue, instead of actually solving the problem."

Vasquez himself is campaigning for reelection in New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District, which includes border communities like Las Cruces, Santa Teresa and Carlsbad, against former Republican Congresswoman Yvette Herrell.

2. What areas could members of Congress compromise on?

Vasquez said the resolution is also "a call to bring Republicans back to the table."

Vasquez pointed to legislation he has supported to increase sentences associated with human smuggling and increase information sharing between different law enforcement agencies and Congress around human smuggling, as a policy proposal that has gotten bipartisan support and could appeal to moderate Republicans.

Steve Pearce, New Mexico Republican Party chairman and former congressman, does not think the resolution will generate compromise.

"It's just the continuation of political theater," Pearce said. "Vasquez is just signing on to be one of the tricksters that try to fool the American public. The Democrats see that they're in deep trouble on the border issue."

Corey Sukala, government professor at New Mexico State University, thinks that on a practical level it is unlikely that Congress will compromise on border and immigration issues in this election year — in part because immigration can be a good wedge issue.

But politicians aren't the only ones who disagree about immigration and border policy. Polling at the beginning of the year found that 20% of Americans thought immigration was the most concerning issue, according to Sukala, but there was little overlap between Republican and Democrat viewpoints on what policies could help.

"In February 80%, of respondents (to a Pew Research poll) said that the government was doing a poor job handling immigration. And that includes 89% of Republicans who felt that, but it also includes 73% of Democrats who felt that, so no one is happy with how this issue was being handled," Sukala said.

3. How have stances on the border and immigration shifted?

According to Sukala, both Republicans and Democrats have shifted to the right on immigration since 2016.

"For Republicans that's meant more extreme policies, things like taking measures towards ending the asylum process altogether, or building a border wall. But Democrats have equally hardened in their stances," Sukala said, pointing to Vasquez's Coyotes Act and Smart Border Protection Act.

"Those are all proposals that, really not that long ago, would have been coming from Republicans rather than Democrats, even though the Democrats tend to package those types of proposals with some more traditionally Democratic goals that are things like finding pathways to citizenship," Sukala said.

4. What border policies does Vasquez think are vital?

Vasquez said that he thinks the Smart Border Protection Act he sponsored is vital.

"It implements new technologies and improved port-of-entry infrastructure to stop the flow of fentanyl. That's truly the most important thing that we can do today to help protect and serve our communities," Vasquez said.

Pearce is critical of more screening technology at the border being effective.

"It's another shiny object to try to get people to look at when the real problem is the number (of people) crossing," Pearce said.

Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Ore, agreed with Vasquez and also pointed to the American Dream and Promise Act, which is focused on a path to citizenship for "Dreamers" and asylum-seekers, and to proposed legislation that would recapture unused immigrant visas to address the nursing and health workforce shortage.

Cathy Cook is a news reporter for the Albuquerque Journal. Reach her via email at ccook@abqjournal.com