According to some analysts, the Senate border proposal that collapsed under the weight of Trump Republicans was one of the toughest bipartisan bills to emerge on border security in ten years. Yet, it was rejected anyway.
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 22: Democratic members of U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), walk down the east front steps of the U.S. Capitol for a news conference after a boycott of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court on October 22, 2020 in Washington, DC. The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to advance, without the presence of Democratic members, the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the rejection a gift for Democrats, saying they plan to remind voters that it was the Republicans who killed the bill "constantly over the next year."
He further stated that he believes that strategy is already paying off in speaking with Democrat Tom Suozzi, who recently defeated a weak challenge in securing the seat of the deposed George Santos by winning New York District 3 and flipping it away from Republicans.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Trump's rejection of the border legislation "a gift" for Democrats and said they plan to "constantly over the next year" remind voters that it was Republicans who torpedoed the deal.
And, he says, the strategy has already paid dividends, with Democrat Tom Suozzi, who campaigned on tougher border enforcement, winning a special election this week in New York, flipping a House seat away from Republicans.
The border issue has long been seen as an issue that Republicans would use to rally their base. However, it could turn out to be one of the biggest sticking points for Democrats this election season.
Public angst is running high as 2023 was punctuated with record illegal border crossings from Mexico in December as numbers reached record highs. In January those numbers dipped to the lowest numbers seen since June 2023.
Republicans have tried to place blame for the number of illegal border crossings on President Joe Biden.
"(Illegal migrants are) burdening my state and a lot of the major cities around the country is unsustainable and has proven to be a political liability for President Biden, so they want to try to act like they're doing something about it for a fig leaf," said Sen. John Cornyn (Tx-R)
"Republicans aren't willing to stand up and solve issues," said Rep. Suzan Delbene, a Washington Democrat who chairs the party's House campaign committee. "They are led by the most extreme members of their party and when Donald Trump says he doesn't want to move something, they all fall in line."
"If we could show Democrats were serious and Republicans were not interested or rejected doing border, it would help neutralize the issue, which was a loser for us," Schumer said.
