Republicans in Congress are full of BS if they reject a border security bill again

Every Republican and Democrat in Congress must have the guts to vote on border security legislation or drop their pretense that they care once and for all.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York on Thursday will take up the border legislation that Donald Trump helped kill in his bid for the White House.

The bipartisan proposal is a sharp turn to the right for President Biden, who instead of legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants already here is willing to shut down the border when certain triggers are met.

The bill makes it harder to qualify for asylum, adds nearly 5,000 asylum officers, triggers expedited deportation, and targets money laundering and fentanyl traffickers.

This bill does everything the GOP wants

In other words, it does everything immigrant advocates fear and what anti-immigration hardliners keep clamoring for during their constant parade to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Yet, the same Republicans pointing to the “border chaos” and who blame Biden for it killed the legislation a few months ago and are vowing to do it again this week.

Why? Because their concern about border security and drug trafficking, which is killing too many Americans, is insincere and dishonest.

It’s time to put every Republican and Democrat on record about border security and not let them hide behind their BS aimed at fooling voters.

Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema are on board. The now-independent Sinema helped negotiate the legislation.

Where do Republican members stand?

What about the rest of the Arizona Congressional delegation?

We already know the House Freedom Caucus, including Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar and Debbie Lesko, doesn’t move a finger without Trump’s blessing.

Democratic Reps. Greg Stanton and Ruben Gallego, who’s seeking Sinema’s seat, have previously indicated their support for it.

What about Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani, the Mexican-born “proud immigrant” who has turned out to be nothing but empty talk when it comes to border security?

While insisting that the “border is in complete chaos,” Ciscomani told the Tucson Sentinel in February that he couldn’t support the bipartisan bill.

“We need a much tougher approach to stop this crisis,” he said, referring to the massive number of asylum seekers.

Tougher? Like what?

That's no excuse to let Ciscomani, others slide

Ciscomani did push for H.R. 3602, a rehash of previous failed attempts to reinstate Trump’s immigration policies, such as constructing the border wall and requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico. It was the kind of a bill that even hardliners like Biggs called a “show vote.”

We’ve yet to hear from Ciscomani on this week’s Senate vote, and if he is serious about fixing the border, he should support the bipartisan legislation.

Even if the bill is likely to fail and not even get to the House, that’s no excuse to let Ciscomani and House members hide, especially since they’re ramping up their border security rhetoric.

1 lawmaker can stop: AZ GOP from deporting 'Dreamers'

Ciscomani, who’s seeking reelection from his southern Arizona district, hasn’t exactly been the tough-on-immigration crusader he wants to portray himself among Republican voters.

Not with real and substantive legislation such as this, anyway.

Last month, Ciscomani and Stanton partnered to push the Data for a Secured Border Act to “improve communication within the Department of Homeland Security and provide Congress with data to better inform decision-making.”

Of course, it is good to have reliable data, but this will do nothing to fix “border chaos” now.

Either pass this bill or shut up about the border

Talk is cheap. If Ciscomani and fellow Republicans truly believe the border is a real threat to America, then this is their chance to set politics aside and join Democrats to finally do something.

I don’t particularly like this legislation because it effectively guts the asylum system and gives the president — any president — the power to shut down the border, practically on a whim.

That’s why I’d think Republicans like Ciscomani and others would be tripping over each other to pass it.

But no.

Instead, they’ve declared this substantive bipartisan legislation “dead on arrival.”

Like it or not, this is a real and tangible bill that will add much needed resources to the border. It would put the brakes on border crossers substantially.

I’ve lost patience with lawmakers, even with those I personally respected, including Ciscomani.

Either pass this legislation or stop pretending — once and for all — that you care about “securing the border.”

Elvia Díaz is editorial page editor for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1. 

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Republicans' border security talk is BS if they reject this bill again