The 2024 election sent two clear immigration messages to the 119th Congress:
Together, these imperatives reflect an overdue reckoning with two broken promises. The first, a four-year broken promise from President Biden to prevent a border crisis. The second was a 60-year failure by Congress to manage immigration at levels the nation can sustain, economically and environmentally, and in the national interest.
In 2025, Congress took meaningful steps toward repairing both failures.
The Laken Riley Act became the first bill to address enforcement failures to be passed by Congress on a bipartisan basis since the 2006 Secure Fence Act. Twenty years ago, the bipartisan support came from the likes of Senators Jeff Sessions (R-AL), John McCain (R-AZ), Joe Biden (D-DE), Hilary Clinton (D-NY) Barack Obama (D-IL), and Charles “Chuck” Schumer (D-NY).
This time around, the leading proponents of the Laken Riley Act included Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ).
The bipartisan bill requires law enforcement to detain aliens who have been convicted or arrested for various forms of theft, assault, and bodily harm. The law also gives states standing to sue any current or future administration for 1) violating “detention and removal requirements”; 2) releasing aliens that go on to harm the state or its residents; and 3) violating the requirement to discontinue visas to countries who refuse to take their citizens back.
“We must give law enforcement the means to take action when illegal immigrants break the law,” Sen. Gallego said.
Congress backed enforcement with unprecedented resources.
Following the worst border crisis in U.S. history from 2021 to 2024, Congress approved more than $150 billion in immigration enforcement funding over four years–roughly equivalent to the annual cost of illegal immigration itself.
The results have been historic:
Funding enforcement works–when it is paired with political will.
On his first day in office, President Trump fulfilled a “Day One” campaign promise by issuing an executive order to end the practice of issuing automatic citizenship to children of illegal aliens and tourists. The Supreme Court will issue a ruling this year that should give clear guidance to legislative reformers who are prepared to end the practice.
Congress introduced bills in the House and Senate to do so.
In November, J.D. Vance became the first Vice President in the mass-immigration era to explicitly call for lower numbers.
Congress has introduced bills in the House and Senate that would accomplish this as well.
These and other Great Solution bills need a big push in 2026 to get to the president’s desk. The stakes are high. The opportunity is great.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) rose to the floor in January of 2025 and said of the Laken Riley Act:
“The American people are rightly concerned about the illegal immigration crisis in this country. And they sent a clear message in November that they want to see it addressed.
“And that is why the Republican majorities in the House and Senate have made it our first order of business to take up the Laken Riley Act.
“This bill is a small but critical step toward resolving the Biden border crisis — the first of many, I might add.”
The first of many, he promised.
At the halfway point of Congress, however:
The window of opportunity to act gets smaller every day.
President Trump’s executive orders – reinstating Remain in Mexico, ending the CBP One app, and terminating mass parole programs–have driven illegal crossings to historic lows and encouraged inadmissible aliens to return home.
But even Trump acknowledges that his administration’s policies are not permanent. Another administration could undo them just as easily as the Biden Administration dismantled Trump’s first-term policies.
H.R. 2, championed by the same leaders who now hold congressional majorities, would do exactly that. It would also mandate E-Verify, addressing concerns about interior enforcement by increasing pressure on illegal workers to leave on their own.
If Congress believes in border security, it should put H.R. 2 on the floor and let members vote.
For all of the hopeful talk about reducing immigration, that’s all it is: talk.
In 2025, the federal government is expected to admit 1.1 million permanent foreign workers–the same number of Americans laid off that year. An additional one million-plus temporary workers were admitted, even as unemployment among young Americans runs at twice the national average.
These numbers are not abstract. They shape wages, housing costs, family formation, and long-term opportunity for the next generation.
Even with a quiet border, mass immigration is the primary driver of U.S. population growth which adds millions of people every year who need housing, housing, transportation infrastructure, food production, water withdrawals, energy use and waste disposal.More people means more consumers, to be sure. But the limited economic benefits associated with mass immigration should be weighed against the burdens on taxpayers, communities, and the natural environment.
The Biden border crisis forced the country to confront what happens when population growth outpaces planning and capacity. Congress must not repeat that mistake under a different label.
2025 proved reform is possible.
2026 will determine whether it lasts.
Related Resources
Videos
September 15, 2023
Articles
August 2, 2022
Facebook
LinkedIn
Tweet
Email
Print
Factsheets