DHS was already in massive trouble with congress for stuffing people into unmarked vans like this was a 3rd-world country. Not to mention the whole department is unconstitutional.
Both sides of the aisle have held power in America in those 20 years.
To the comment below that is "dead" you are completely correct IMO. HN has too many gov't lurkers here manipulating votes. Most dead comments are gold.
A notion can have very widespread support and still not pass, or get much serious work done. (It's common for the party in power to bottle something up in a committee without giving it a full hearing.) So lack of action isn't evidence one way or the other. It just means it's nearly impossible to do anything via legislation.