WASHINGTON — The border and immigration are top campaign issues for Texas Republicans in Congress, but in the face of a rare opportunity where a Democratic president is willing to make concessions on the matter, they are refusing to take it up. Now, GOP lawmakers are facing fierce criticism for letting the problems at the southern border fester even longer ahead of the elections.
Republicans' slim majority in the House was not enough to overcome the few GOP renegades and every House Democrat voting against the extraordinary impeachment of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas. It was a bitter and unexpected setback for House Republican leaders.
“Last night was a setback, but democracy is messy. We live in a time of divided government. We have a razor thin margin here,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, on Wednesday.
“The shame is what we heard on the House floor where people clapping. So are they clapping for an open border? You know, are they clapping for the tragedies that have happened in my district to my constituents? So that’s really too bad,” said Rep. August Pfluger, R-San Angelo.
From failing to impeach Mayorkas to derailing the Senate’s bipartisan border and immigration bill, the House GOP is facing intensifying criticism over its ability to govern. Some Texas Democrats say Republicans don’t want to solve the border crisis so they can continue to campaign on it.
“I really hope that moderate independent thinking voters out there will realize that they just have been played, and that they want this chaos to continue, because they think it’s good for their politics,” said Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth.
“It’s so clear that Republicans aren’t actually working on solutions on immigration issues,” Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, shortly after the impeachment vote failed. “The Republicans are really more interested in show and politics rather than serving the people.”
Many congressional Republicans say the Senate’s agreement with the White House did not go far enough to discourage illegal immigration and that the president does not need a new law to address problems at the southern border.
But Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, dismisses the idea that a law is unnecessary. He says Republicans should continue trying to strike a deal on new border security measures.
“I don’t care about the political blame game, which is what too many people care about. I care about the numbers of illegal crossings, and how to reduce that. That’s my metric for success. So we’re going to keep working on this,” Crenshaw said. “It’s not going to be the Senate deal. That’s dead. It’s just, it’s too toxic.”
At a recent press conference, Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, expressed weariness over what he called the “do-nothing politicians.”
“A do-nothing Congress, a do-nothing president means communities like San Antonio, like El Paso, like Eagle Pass, like Del Rio are left to fend for themselves,” he said.
When asked by Spectrum News about whether he is concerned the inaction will affect the House’s GOP majority come November, Gonzales said, “Politically, I think more and more people are looking for somebody that wants solutions, give me a solution and implement that solution, even if it’s incrementally.”
After the Senate deal collapse, the path forward on a compromise to address the border remains difficult in an election year.