Unraveling Misinformation About Bipartisan Immigration Bill
Para leer en español, vea esta traducción de Google Translate.
Even before a bipartisan group of senators unveiled the text of a foreign aid and immigration overhaul bill on Feb. 4, it faced significant opposition from former President Donald Trump and other Republican leaders.
Before the bill had been released, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz described it as “a steaming pile of crap.” After seeing it, Cruz said, “it turned out my assessment was far too kind.”
On Feb. 7, the bill failed in the Senate after it was opposed by all but four Republicans and a few Democrats. Some of the criticism leveled by Republicans opposing the bill was based on a distortion of what it would and would not do.
Much of the controversy centered on a section of the bill that would have provided emergency authority to the administration to “summarily remove” people who cross into the U.S. illegally between ports of entry, even if they are seeking asylum. While Trump argues that presidents already have that authority, the fact is that when he tried to exercise that kind of authority, the courts blocked him.
Trump and other Republicans have also said the bill would have permitted up to 5,000 illegal entries per day, but that’s not accurate either.
We’ll explain what was in the legislation and the facts on these two talking points.
The Bill, in Brief
The , called the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, sought significant changes in border policy. It money to build more border barriers, to expedite the asylum process, essentially ending — in most cases — the so-called “catch and release” policy whereby migrants are released into the U.S. pending asylum hearings. And it would have increased the standard of evidence needed to win asylum status.
