Senate rejects H.R. 2 amendment to Debt Limit legislation

The Senate rejected an amendment to the Debt Limit bill that would have added the House-passed H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, to the must-pass legislation. The amendment was defeated 46-to-51 mostly along party lines with all but one Republican supporting the amendment and all the Democrats opposing the amendment.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) offered the amendment that would have added one of the strongest immigration enforcement bills in history to the Debt Limit legislation.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the lone Republican to oppose the amendment. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) did not vote. Every Democrat opposed the amendment except for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) who also didn’t vote.

H.R. 2 would address the ongoing border crisis by:

• plugging the loopholes in our asylum system that are exploited by economic migrants, restoring its integrity and protecting it for legitimate asylum seekers;
• blocking the administration from continuing its policies of catch-and-release, thus deterring future waves of illegal migrants;
• putting a stop to the surges of family units and unaccompanied alien children, protecting them from exploitation and victimization by the cartels and traffickers;
• putting teeth into efforts to deter visa overstays;
• reining in the breathtaking and illegal abuse of parole that this administration has been using to create its own immigration system outside of the confines of the Immigration and Nationality Act; and
• fulfilling the promise of a lawful workforce with mandatory, nationwide E-Verify, which would shut off the “jobs magnet” for illegal immigration while protecting jobs for American workers.
• amending the Secure Fence Act to explicitly require physical barriers along at least 900 miles of the border and expedite procedures for construction;
• defunding DHS processing of aliens between ports of entry and DHS-funded nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that facilitate unlawful entry, human trafficking and smuggling, drug trafficking and smuggling, or provide, or facilitate the provision of, transportation, lodging, or immigration legal services to inadmissible aliens who enter the United States after the date of the enactment;
• prohibiting the CBP One Mobile Application (or similar program) from being used to process entries of illegal aliens; and
• requiring the resumption of border wall construction, using funds that were previously appropriated and materials previously acquired.

Thursday night’s vote is significant in getting nearly every Member of the Senate on the record on legislation that would end the border crisis and prevent future surges.

To view the full roll call vote, click here.