MCKINNEY, Texas — Congressman Keith Self, R-McKinney, just concluded a trip to the Texas-Mexico border with a large congressional delegation, including the Speaker of the U.S. House and 60 members of the House GOP.
And he says it’s clear after his visit that the U.S. Senate needs to pass H.R. 2, which would resume border wall construction and impose limits on asylum eligibility, among other things.
House Republicans passed H.R. 2 last year with no Democratic votes.
Self says because of the failures along the southern border, there is no room for compromise.
“They’re not securing our border. They’re simply transporting illegal immigrants into the United States,” Self told us on Inside Texas Politics. “We don’t need to talk about compromise today. We need H.R. 2.”
Republicans also want the Biden administration to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which would force some migrants to remain in Mexico while their asylum claims are heard in the U.S.
CBS News recently reported that 300,000 migrants were expected to be processed along the southern border in December, a new monthly high.
And House Republicans have made clear they have no desire to discuss funding for Ukraine and Israel until they get support for H.R. 2.
“Frankly, we secure our border, then we can talk about Ukraine funding. We can talk about everything. But we’re going to secure the border,” Self said.
There’s even question now whether House Republicans might be willing to allow funding for the federal government to lapse on January 19th, one of the deadlines for funding the government after lawmakers passed stopgap spending bills last year.
Self didn’t directly answer whether he’s in favor of not funding the government until a GOP border plan is in place, only telling us “I’m not in favor of any government shutdown, but we must secure the border.”
On January 10th, the House Homeland Security Committee will hold its first impeachment hearing into Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
And Self says after his recent visit to the southern border, he hopes there will eventually be enough votes to impeach the Secretary.
But something must be done, anything, Self argues, to help lower the record number of migrants crossing the border.
“Any number of things, if we instituted them, it would stop the flow, as long as they know we’re serious. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but they have to know we’re serious,” Self said.