Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell threw in the towel on a border deal so bad it never should have been inked. Meanwhile, let’s discuss the numbers. 
According to US Customs and Border Protection, fiscal year 2024 is off to a record start.
Border Synopsis
- Although the vast majority of migrants come through Mexico, only 20 percent are from Mexico.
- Venezuela, much further away, accounts for nearly 15 percent.
- Cuba and Haiti each accounts for more migrants than Canada, Brazil, China, Russia, Turkey, Romania, and Burma combined.
- In just three months, Venezuela has 148,074 migrants in fiscal year 2024 compared to 334,914 in all of 2023.
These are the official counted numbers. How many untracked migrants is uncertain.
Contiguous Countries
I am trying to get a handle on that Tweet. As I see it, contiguous means Canada and Mexico only. Even if it doesn’t, Biden is sure to interpret the law as he sees fit.
The point may be moot because this deal may have just died.
Senators Rush to Salvage Ukraine Aid After Border Deal Fails
It appears Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has finally thrown in the towel on a compromise that should never been made in the first place.
The Wall Street Journal reports Senators Rush to Salvage Ukraine Aid After Border Deal Fails
Senators threw in the towel Tuesday on a $118 billion national-security and border package after sharp opposition from Republicans scuttled the deal, forcing frustrated lawmakers to urgently seek for a backup plan to deliver aid to Ukraine as it loses ground in its campaign to repel Russia.
The surrender to political reality left Democrats seething over what they called a bait and switch by Republicans after four months of talks, while GOP lawmakers said the deal’s border provisions weren’t strong enough. Both sides, however, signaled they could try to move to a narrower bill focused on foreign assistance and weapons once they get past Wednesday, when the doomed package will get a vote in the Senate.
“It looks to me and to most of our members as if we have no real chance here to make a law,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.). He said lawmakers still “ought to tackle the rest of it because it’s important,” ticking off aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. “Not that the border isn’t important, but we can’t get an outcome.”
No Deal is Better than a Bad Deal
Biden wants to pin this on Trump but who is is that made 64 regulation changes weakening the border?
Trump’s motives may be suspect but his statement is accurate: No deal is better than a bad deal.
Where’s Border Czar Kamala Harris?
The LA Times reports Kamala Harris was tapped to fix the immigration crisis. Then the problem shifted
President Biden, facing a political crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border in the early days of his administration, tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead a high-profile response that would bet heavily on improving conditions in three Central American countries.
It was known as the “root causes” strategy. The border, administration officials argued, was only a symptom. If the United States could improve economic, security and political conditions in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, fewer people would risk the perilous journey and much of the problem could be solved, they reasoned.
“It was focused on a long-term scenario and it was focused on countries that are no longer the primary sending countries,” said Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group.
“You can’t have a ‘root causes’ strategy for every country in the Western Hemisphere,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director of the American Immigration Council, an immigrants’ rights group.
El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, has alarmed human rights advocates with his broad crackdown on gangs that includes widespread arrests and detentions. He ran for reelection Sunday in defiance of a constitutional term limit. But Bukele’s crackdown has played a big role in stemming migration from El Salvador, as residents who once feared gang violence are no longer compelled to leave, according to specialists.
Biden’s Trojan Horse Immigration Deal
On January 30, I commented Biden’s Trojan Horse Immigration Deal Would Allow Another 1.8 Million Migrants
The Senate finally released more details of the bipartisan border package last Friday. House speaker Mike Johnson immediately blasted the deal, and deservingly so.
On February 6,I commented Biden Proposes Ankle Bracelets and Commands Will Solve the Immigration Problem
The ankle bracelet is a farce. What is to stop someone from taking off the bracelet and vanishing forever in a sanctuary city?
Now I wonder What else is lurking in the bill we don’t know about. I searched for hours trying to find the full text of the bill on Tuesday and came up empty. The Senate never posted the text.
Biden can attempt to fix the problems he created or not. To date, neither Biden nor Harris have done anything useful.
Instead, Biden has kept his campaign promise to keep the border open. Why should anyone trust him now?
He can start by undoing the mess his regulations created.
“How Does the US Stop the Surge?”
More like: Why?
Back when America did not care about supposed “surges” of immigrants, it was the greatest and best ran country in human history. While now…..:It’s an awful lot worse than China. Which is communist….
Besides: It’s the self appointed Wall builders who steal my money and harass me. Not some dude selling tacos.
In some utopian wonderland, yes sure: A proper efficient and low drag regulated border is preferable to no control at all; for what purports to be a nation state. But in a bottom-of-the-barrel dump like the contemporary US: Who cares? It’s problem number umpteen trillion at best. Ending The Fed and involuntary taxation, are orders of magnitude more important to the well being of Americans. Even to the ones sufficiently dumb and indoctrinated to not even comprehend that.
The swamp snake Schumer has his mitts all over this bill and has the senile turtle baffled.
Omnibus bills should be unconstitutional.
Colorado has a single subject requirement for all bills. It has done wonders in making the process better.
When that wall finally gets built, it won’t be to keep THEM out. It will be to keep US in!
It appears that only Texas is trying to stop the surge. Congress apparently does not care.
This is bullish for housing though.
I am guessing this will even create more Federal Debt over the next few years with increases in Food Stamps, Housing subsidies, etc.
The border crisis is not being solved in large part because business wants cheap labor as do the Texans who need cheap labor to clean their houses, maintain gardens and do most labor that Americans do not want to do. Or even better get rid of or annihilate child labor laws so you can make these immigrant kids productive. Businesses do not mind hiring non-citizens. Much cheaper and less complaining. As someone said – follow the money. No body really wants a closed border and thus we do not have a closed border
Well now that this bill has failed here is what will happen next:
1. A new bill will come out that will cost way more.
2. New bill will have more “outrageous” clauses that give many more way outs.
3. Republicans may cave but this issue is too good for fundraising so
4. Republicans will go home with hat in hand begging for more campaign donations to fight those “evil” democrats. Suckers wills end in their nickels and dimes.
5. Nothing will get done, election will happen, Biden wins, repubs go home sulking (go to step 4).
6. Border remains as is with absolutely no changes.
Any questions?
Simple solution de fund all the benefits/welfare illegal immigrants receive by entering the US.
There will not be a separate bill for Israel or Ukraine without a bill for the border first so the Democrats might as well get to it instead of trying to put Ukraine and Israel together in a bill for the border. They could do it tomorrow if they wanted but until the border is settled everything else will have to wait.
The House already tried to vote a separate funding bill for Israel last night without a border bill. It failed. There won’t be any funding for any of it.
Border Deal Apparently Dead, How Does the US Stop the Surge?
By doing what the law prescribes: securing the border & expelling violators of U.S. law. The very idea that a new law abbrogates enforcement of preceding law is revolting…
Amazing how the guy with two impeachments and multiple indictments continues to live rent free in Biden’s head and essentially controls the Republican Party.
Remind me why we are having a republican primary when Trump has a commanding lead and Nikki gets obliterated by “none of these candidates”.
If Trump was as tough on immigration as he said he was going to be, like building a wall, we wouldn’t be in this mess. And he probably would’ve won the 2020 election, tampering or no.
Spot-on accurate on both counts. Unfortunately, who’s an alternative?
Nice reporting on this. There needs to be some serious bloodletting within the GOP over such a bill ever hitting the table. Did Lankford in fact read it? Are these s.o.b.s too stupid to know what’s in front of them, or are they bought? The country needs a political purge (in the emetic sense) and so does the Republican party. Thanks again for covering this.
or are they bought?
That’s a rhetorical question, right?
The Demicans donor base doesn’t consider the border important.
Follow the money!
The entire headline and story is farcical. If only we had a recent example where the border was much more secure than it is now. Hmmmmm, what time period could I look at. Hmmm, what’s changed. JM&J this isn’t difficult and to pretend we don’t know “how to stop the surge” is utter nonsense. Let’s play a millenial game with the question–imagine they are zombies. Any idea how to stop it. Now let’s play it with the neo cons–imagine they are Iranian terrorists whose doctrine is “death to America”. But playing this headline as written, let’s tweak it. What if the border crossers were potential futer amnesty citizens who might better fit the profile to vote Democrat and turn Texas blue. Answer: Change all the regulations on Day 1 and let ‘er buck until every institution and fabric of our society is under extreme duress and pretend we now need to do the deal. They have done the calculus and have enough already here, now it’s step 2, to ensure they are never sent back.
I’m almost beside myself when I see headlines like this. The Executive branch already has the authority to control the border. They have the staffing. They have departments, armies, personnel to address Hurricane Katrina, Sandy, 9/11, a plandemic but now the have the faux inability to put the border policies back in place that were working better under the “orange man bad” era. They made VP Harris the czar how many years ago and yet we NEVER hear one word from her incompetent mouth about what SHE has done or recommended to stop it. I do however know they are handing them money, phones, silly paperwork and sticking them on airplanes to Des Moines or just releasing them into the wild.
Yeah, I have no idea what we can do. If only we had a tool for it.
SMH
And on that note, if we can’t stop something we have laws and personnel to stop–if we can’t fix problems where we have historical reference as to what worked, given our $34,000,000,000,000 debt and our $2Tln deficit and the myriad other issues why do we think our government can work out solutions for those. Rip it all down. At this point it’s almost as if we toss our hands up similar to this headline and conclude–burn it to the ground, all the way to the effing ground because if one bacterial remnant of this political ecosystem is left to remain the infection will never be eradicated. Stuki has it right, although I would argue there is no hope other than the God most of them don’t believe it because Mankind sure has a bad historical record.
I just wanna puke when i see headlines like “aw shucks, now what we’s gonna do?”
The Bang Point is fast approaching and some form of burn it all down is going to happen
It will be neither pretty nor fun. Jamie Dimon himself, who is someone I do not like much, gave it 10 years just last week.
My guess has been 5 to 15, but I am leaning closer to 5
I fear for my children
Bus 100% of the Undocumented visitors to blue cities, the day they arrive. Nothing else will work. Their presents is the ONLY thing we can do to wake up our voters.
The obvious solution is immediate blunt force physical consequences for attempting to cross. Short of a large scale domestic terror attack with direct ties to illegal immigrants, the political will to close the border doesn’t exist.
It seems prudent to make near term plans to live in a low-trust society.
I still ask, what’s to prevent undocumented illegals from giving a fake age when they cross, so they can collect Social Security benefits early?
You can’t collect social security without a social security number. You can’t get a social security number without being a naturalized citizen. Finally, there isn’t currently a path for illegals to become naturalized citizens.
Even if the border completely closes today, those already in will get citizen status in expedited fashion. Then each of them will bring in 5-6 more “relatives” legally. Not to mention the creation of “government-enforcement gangs” with all those military age men. It’s over folks.
Imagine having a “job” that requires you to LIE, CHEAT and STEAL your way to “SUCCESS?”
That is congress!
You never worked in financial services I see.
Let’s keep in mind that the Headlines use words such as “Congress Scrambles” and “Tempers Flare over Border Deal” and this is ALL B.S. These people do not WORK on anything.
WORK is back room deals, wink-winking being the hard work and the hardest part of all is snipping their Cubans and having to sometimes pour their own drinks while “negotiating.”
THIS IS ALL SMOKE AND MIRRORS, folks! Wake up if you are not on to this yet. NO ONE actually does anything in congress other than to AGREE on the main part: SPENDING MONEY so that money can be round-tripped into the pockets of the most powerful, “THE LEADERSHIP.”
Maybe El Salvador’s president could migrate here and run for president.
We know from history how to stop illegal invaders. Walls and armies. It’s the only way.
“If the United States could improve economic, security and political conditions in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, fewer people would risk the perilous journey and much of the problem could be solved, they reasoned.”
OR
She and Joe could oversee the worsening of economic, security and political conditions in the United States so that no one would want to come, legally or illegally.
Who is more senile McConnell or Biden???
It’s the same question as: “How was the rest of the play Mrs. Lincoln?”
Turtle poo smells just as bad as a messed diaper.
“We hear this number, six million people have come across under the current administration. I talked to experts down there that say that number is a myth, that it’s closer to 13 to 14 million that have come across,” McGraw told Sean Hannity. “I asked them straight up, what is it you need here? I was shocked to hear them say, ‘We don’t need more money. We don’t need more resources, we don’t need more officers, we don’t need more legislation. We just need the laws that are on the books to be followed. We need to be allowed to do our job. And we can get this under control right now.’”
Not as concerned about the immigration disaster, as no matter WHAT law was passed, Biden would simply ignore it and keep the border open. The only thing that fixes that is a NON-Biden administration
The more important point right now is to prevent ANY more money from going to Ukraine
The President doesn’t have carte blanche to pick and choose laws he wants to enforce. If the President doesn’t strictly obey the laws passed by Congress by investing the funds appropriated by Congress for doing so, his administration can be sued to have the courts enforce said laws. Failure to follow the court’s decisions is a crime and punishable by impeachment.
Nobody has sued the administration over this issue, because the President is, in fact, enforcing the laws to their letter. The problem is the laws allow the President too much leeway, and Biden is taking the most lenient interpretation allowable.
The solution is to tighten the laws to reduce said leeway, which is exactly what the Senate Republicans were trying to do before Trump stepped in.
Just to keep a rapist out of prison (and instead putting him in the White House), the GOP has sunk the most conservative border bill ever. The “invasion” is now on them.
True, obviously the congressional GOP is far more willing to kneel before Trump than they are to accept the best border deal ever offered by the Democrats. The moment Trump told the GOP to dump that bill is when they went from supporting it to treating it like a likely fentanyl poisoning. Fact.
Albert = Ginko Biloba. Same troll.
What are you disputing? That Trump is a rapist? That this is the most conservative immigration bill ever? Or some other fact?
Neither are facts. HR 2 is far more conservative, and there has been no rape. There was a Kangaroo Court in NYC ‘sticking it to Trump’ with Lawfare. I found it funny an Oklahoma jury stuck it to Gannett for $25 million over a bad, but not life ending, mistake. Lawfare begets Lawfare as the Justice system has been crumpled by the Jacobin Left.
“He can start by undoing the mess his regulations created.”
He’s not going to. Now he can just say its Trump’s fault. And enough people will believe him to get him reelected. The Republicans should have just taken the deal, pointed out its flaws, and said those flaws will be fixed if Trump is elected. That’s the smart move. It allows Republican to do something, while complaining that it is not enough. Now they’re on the hook for doing nothing and losing the election. They just gave Biden everything he wanted without even realizing it.
Of course, this assumes that the new law wouldn’t have resolved 90% of the crisis.
The Border Law stuff was just bullshit for McConnell and the rest to get what he wanted which is dozens of billions more dollars for Ukraine, and throw some other money at Israel and hey why not include Taiwan.
Traitors
The federal government is a failure and repeatedly violating its oath to office. When the federal government fails to uphold federal law, it then becomes the right of the citizens to take matters into their own hands.
So what are you proposing, an armed rebellion by the people?
I think he’s proposing that private citizens uphold the law, not armed rebellion.
Citizens arrests are a legal thing. Though I suspect he mostly means private citizens enforcing the border and preventing crossings.
I think it’s now Mike Johnson’s turn (or is that Trump or maybe Vlad’s turn) to come up with a border bill. Any chaos at the border now is on them.
They aren’t interested in that, only in cowtowing to the Mangoon
That’s “kowtowing” Bunky.
The House already passed a border bill. I think it’s HR2. It’s sitting on Chuck Schumer’s desk. He won’t allow it to come up for a vote,
Ginko Biloba = Albert. Same troll.
HR 2 is waiting and ready.
“Border Deal Apparently Dead, How Does the US Stop the Surge”? By enforcing the LAW!
When your government is one giant criminal cabal, laws become meaningless.
Name the law and sections of said law that they aren’t enforcing. Bet you can’t.
All immigration will be processed through LEGAL PORTS OF ENTRY!!
How’s That for one.