WASHINGTON — Conservatives in Congress blew it a new bilateral border agreement for doesn’t go far enoughThe legislation won a key endorsement Monday: the union that represents U.S. border patrol agents.
The National Border Patrol Council, which represents more than 18,000 border patrol officers, said the bill would “abolish illegal border crossings nationwide and allow our agents to detect and avoid apprehension of those attempting to cross our border illegally.”
It’s a significant statement of support from a group that backs former President Donald Trump in 2020 and has repeatedly opposed President Joe Biden’s handling of the border.
“While not perfect, the Border Act of 2024 is a step in the right direction and better than the current status quo,” said Council President Brandon Judd. “Therefore, the National Border Patrol Council endorses this bill and hopes that it will be passed soon.”
Last week, Judd attended a House Republican roundtable titled “Impact of the Biden Border Crisis” at the Capitol and criticized the Biden administration for “destabilizing our Southwest Border.”
Less than 24 hours after its release, Republicans opposed to the 2024 Border Act were split, primarily in the House of Representatives. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. and his leadership team called the legislation a “waste of time” and warned it would be “dead on arrival” in the House if it passed the Senate.
On the other side of the Capitol, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., praised the bill’s top GOP negotiator, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, and urged his colleagues to consider it carefully.
Still, many Republican senators have already said they won’t support the bill as it stands, and it’s unclear whether it will pass.
On Monday afternoon, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., set up a procedural vote on the $118 billion national security supplemental bill, which covers border legislation as well as funding for the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and aid to Indian people. – Pacific region. The Senate is expected to hold a preliminary, procedural vote on the package on Wednesday.
In a statement released Monday, Judd said the bill would “give U.S. Border Patrol agents powers codified in law that did not exist in the past.”
Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who helped negotiate the border deal, he called The approval of the Border Patrol Unit is “great news.”
“These men and women are on the front lines of the border crisis, and they know what it takes to fix our broken system,” he wrote in X.