Hispanic, Black, Asian American and Progressive caucuses warn against GOP border policy in budget

A wide array of congressional Democrats are lashing out at the GOP’s efforts to score border policy concessions in the ongoing budget fight, warning the proposal would worsen conditions at the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a joint statement Thursday, the Black, Hispanic, Asian Pacific American and Progressive caucuses warned against the Republican push to make border and immigration policy changes through the budget process.

“It is not appropriate to establish new immigration and border policy in a bill to keep the government funded,” they said in the statement. 

“House Republicans cannot move their extreme, cruel, unworkable anti-immigrant agenda through the regular legislative process, so they’re trying to make an end-run around Congress and hold the American people hostage to force it into law. Even Minority Leader Senator [Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] has said, ‘Shutting down the government isn’t an effective way to make a point.’ We couldn’t agree more.”

The reaction came as some Senate Republicans echoed the House GOP’s calls to frame the budget fight around partisan differences in border and immigration policy.

House Republicans under Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) failed Friday to pass their own short-term budget proposal, titled the Spending Reduction and Border Security Act, which included provisions of H.R.2, a hard-line border security and immigration bill.

The short-term proposal failed because McCarthy’s right flank joined all Democrats in voting against the bill; some hard-line Republicans had voiced discontent with the bill’s lack of border policy provisions.

McCarthy criticized the holdouts Friday, framing the defeat around the border.

“I can’t understand why someone would side with President Biden on keeping the border open,” he said.

Democrats are wary of the provisions sought by Republicans, many of which would gut the Biden administration’s plans at the border.

The GOP plan would essentially reinstate many of the Trump administration’s border policies, including wall construction and the “Remain in Mexico” program, boxing the administration into policies it dismantled for both political and technical reasons.

“My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are putting politics over public safety, and putting the homeland security of our country at risk,” Rep. Lou Correa (Calif), the top Democrat on the House Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee, said ahead of Friday’s vote.

“Instead of offering real solutions, or welcoming Democrats to the negotiating table, my Republican colleagues are ramming through this chamber a misguided piece of legislation that will create more chaos, hurt DHS, and strip essential resources for the orderly processing of migrants.”