President Joe Biden claims there will be another run at passage of border security legislation — but that is just "rhetorical posturing," skeptical officials claim.
Talks about resuscitating a bipartisan border compromise senators struck in February have been nonexistent, Politico reported Monday — and some claim it is unlikely anything will be done on border security between now and November.
"They pulled a rabbit out of a hat on Ukraine, but there's no chance they're getting anything out of Mike Johnson's House on border security," one unnamed immigration advocate told the outlet. "They've known that since December, when they realized they had to count votes in the House. There's no chance of legislation on this, and they know that.
"It's rhetorical posturing."
After GOP lawmakers rejected the initial compromise bill, Biden weighed the possibility of taking executive action to undo his early administration executive orders to undoing Trump's border policies.
"I proposed and negotiated and agreed to the strongest border security bill this country has ever, ever, ever seen," Biden claimed last week, speaking about its exclusion from the foreign aid package. "It was bipartisan. It should have been included in this bill, and I'm determined to get it done for the American people."
But according to Politico, there has been no behind-the-scenes jockeying to restart talks, in part because the White House thinks the migration crisis has stabilized for now.
Politico reported another stab at Senate action would run into the same hurdles as last time: former President Donald Trump's opposition and dim prospects in a GOP majority House.
That leaves the White House weighing new executive actions, though one administration official told Politico, "I think everything is in pencil. Nothing is in Sharpie."
According to Politico, the administration has been crafting an executive action to include using a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act to bar migrants from seeking asylum in between U.S. ports of entry — and also making it more difficult for migrants to pass the initial screening for seeking asylum, as well as ways to quickly deport those who do not meet the elevated asylum standards.
The plan is expected to roll out when border numbers rise again.
"Because otherwise, it would be like a tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it," another source told Politico. "Unless something's happening at the border, people don't pay as much attention."
Some Democrats are worried Biden has not done enough to draw contrast with Trump on the immigration issue as an immigration poll show voters prefer a balanced approach to the issue, Politico reported, while other administration officials fret it could spur more political blowback on a tough issue for Biden — especially if border numbers rise again.
"That's where the conversation is probably being had most thoroughly is, OK, is there a political consequence to this, or should we wait for a second term?" one unnamed former administration official told Politico. "It's not like this idea has an expiration date. He could do this or look at it in the future, where the political space might be greater."