In a significant reversal, Nancy Pelosi abandoned hope of passing a far-left immigration bill to address the border crisis.
One day after Pelosi rejected a $4.6 billion Senate deal that passed with an overwhelming majority, Pelosi agreed to take up the Senate’s “clean” bill, which passed late Thursday after garnering votes from moderate House Democrats. Pelosi initially rejected the Senate bill in favor of the more progressive House version, which would have blocked money for immigration enforcement.
“In order to get resources to the children fastest, we will reluctantly pass the Senate bill. As we pass the Senate bill, we will do so with a Battle Cry as to how we go forward to protect children in a way that truly honors their dignity and worth,” she wrote in a letter to Democrats.
Crisis bill
With the clock ticking before a July 4 recess, Congress was headed for a clash as the House and Senate battled over funding to address the humanitarian crisis on the border. After pretending that it was fabricated for months, Democrats have come around to reality, but progressives have insisted on seeking funding for migrants’ care while limiting border security as much as possible.
Under pressure from progressives, Pelosi passed a $4.5 billion bill Tuesday that would seek restrictions on immigration enforcement. The GOP-led Senate rejected the House bill, 55-37, and passed a bipartisan package with a 84-8 majority on Wednesday. Pelosi rejected the Senate version Wednesday and briefly put up a fight for the House bill, only to relent on Thursday, angering progressives.
The House was originally scheduled to vote on its version Thursday, but with pressure mounting on Congress to act, the House passed the Senate’s version in a 305-102 vote. The bill’s passage came after Republicans and the White House blamed Democrats for keeping solutions on hold for children in detention. Pelosi also faced the prospect of a failed vote in her caucus amid a defection from moderate Democrats in swing districts.
“The Shelby-Leahy legislation has unified the Appropriations Committee. It has unified the Senate. The administration would sign it into law,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said in a statement. “So all our House colleagues need to do to help the men, women, and children on the border this week is pass this unifying bipartisan bill and send it on to the president.”
The White House had indicated that it would veto the House’s bill, but President Trump said on Wednesday that he spoke with Pelosi over the phone and hinted at a compromise. Pelosi discussed the legislation with Vice President Mike Pence, who lobbied for the clean Senate bill.
Progressives in Pelosi’s caucus, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), were steamed at her capitulation on the House version, which would limit the time immigrant children can spend at emergency shelters, impose safety standards on the treatment of migrants by immigration authorities, and block funding on border barriers, asylum reform, border agents, immigration judges, and money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.), among other measures to impede immigration enforcement. Like the Senate version, the House bill would also set aside funding for federal agencies caring for migrants, but it would also lavish spending on translators, legal services and other accommodations for migrants blocked by the Senate bill.
Progressive rage
Five months after she called the border crisis “manufactured,” Nancy Pelosi had the crisis her party left unresolved thrust into her lap once again this week amid worsening conditions on the border. Republicans attacked Democrats for their past, and ongoing, refusal to address the crisis as an image of an immigrant who drowned with his toddler while crossing the border was spread through the media, adding pressure on Democrats to act.
Efforts by Democrats to shoe-horn their provisions into the bill fell apart amid resistance from McConnell, moderate Democrats in swing districts, and the White House. Republicans were helped by the bipartisan vote on the Senate version, which enabled them to blame Democrats for tying up funding for migrants and caving to the demands of the party’s left wing.
Progressives blasted Pelosi’s move, with members of the House Progressive Caucus calling the deal “entirely insufficient to protect vulnerable children in our care.”
“Standing up for human rights requires more than providing money,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said.
Republicans have called on Democrats to reform asylum law to close loopholes that encourage migrants to make dangerous crossings, but liberals have universally rejected efforts to stiffen immigration enforcement. The bill’s passage comes as illegal immigration reached a 13-year peak in May, with 133,300 apprehended at the border and more than 100,000 apprehended for several months before that.
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