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Comment by rus20376 | Hacker News Reader

rus20376

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There is a lot of room between unfettered immigration and having a roving band of apparently unaccountable agents violating 1st, 4th, and 6th amendment rights while also gunning down unarmed citizens in the streets.

We could try mandating e-verify with increasing penalties before we start asking people for papers and kicking down doors.

I think people are forgetting that ICE has been around for decades at this point and some if not most of the stuff they do is routine(Not including some recent enforcement behaviors). I agree with you that is not necessarily bad that the government is using its own data fed in to a vendor tool to enforce immigration.

Wish the proponents of stricter immigration would push for a proper national ID first.

Right now you have all the cons anyway, with none of the pros. A stitched-up database that has no laws attached to prevent its misuse. Just like with gun control, law enforcement could've made their job easier decades ago.

The government already has every record ever generated, and no law has ever permitted or prevented it. Once it was revealed, the only thing that happened was they exiled the guy the told us. A codified national ID doesn't afford any benefit to anyone. On top of that, nobody, regardless of political persuasion, wants it. At least we can agree on that.

Don’t act like the current policy is the only possible alternative to open borders. In spring of ’24, a bipartisan bill negotiated with Republicans included the following:

* Personnel surge: 1,500+ new Border Patrol agents, 4,300 asylum officers, and 100 immigration judges with staff to address 5-7 year case backlogs

* Emergency shutdown authority: Presidential power to close the border and suspend asylum processing when daily encounters exceeded capacity thresholds

* Fentanyl enforcement: 100 cutting-edge inspection machines at Southwest ports of entry, plus sanctions authority against foreign nationals involved in transnational drug trafficking

* Detention and support: Funding to address overcrowded ICE facilities, $1.4B for cities/states providing migrant services, and expedited work permits for eligible applicants

* Asylum system overhaul: Faster and fairer asylum process with massively expanded officer capacity to reduce years-long delays in adjudication

This bill had flaws and reasonable people disagreed on details, but it represented serious bipartisan compromise. Republicans walked away from it after Trump opposed it and it was blocked in congress. If you think that specific bill was bad, show me the Republican legislation introduced to solve the immigration crisis. They don’t want to solve the problem because it fires up their base.

This is not accurate. The details were kept secret during negotiation which consisted of 2 Democrats (1 "Independent" who caucused D) and 1 Republican. When the text of the bill was released, it was widely disparaged by Republicans.

>Several Senate Republicans Issue Blunt Dismissal Of Bipartisan Border Security Bill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf4EzoWR944

It never had a chance of passing. It wasn't some amazing bill that everyone loved until Trump told them not to. That is a fantasy that fits the narrative.

My point was pushing back on the false choice offered by the parent comment that we have open borders or the current maximalist deportation policy.

Talking about that bill specifically though, what were the issues with it (not rhetorical)? It had the support of the Border Patrol Union and Chamber of Commerce. Yes, many Republicans opposed it when released, but that opposition came after Trump publicly told them to oppose it. Here’s a timeline:

Late January 2024: Trump publicly opposed the border deal before it was even finalized, with McConnell acknowledging in a private meeting that Trump’s opposition put Republicans in a serious bind. [1]

Early February 2024: Trump declared on social media that “only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill” [2] and pressured Republicans to kill the bill, saying they needed a “Strong, Powerful, and essentially ‘PERFECT’ Border” and were “better off not making a Deal.” [3]

February 5, 2024: Bill text released

February 6-7, 2024: Within 48 hours of the bill’s release, Senate Republicans declared it dead, with McConnell saying the speaker made clear it would not become law. [4] Only four Republicans voted for it in the procedural vote, and even McConnell voted against it. [5] McConnell’s own admission: McConnell later explicitly stated that “our nominee for president didn’t seem to want us to do anything at all” regarding the border. [6]

The bill wasn’t perfect and had legitimate critics, but calling it a “fantasy narrative” ignores that it died specifically because of political pressure, not substance. House Speaker Mike Johnson declared it “dead on arrival” before the text was even finalized.

My point stands. If this bill was inadequate, where’s the Republican alternative? What’s their legislative proposal to fix the broken immigration system? Blocking bills is easy. Show what they’re actually proposing to solve the problem.

[1] https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/25/politics/gop-senators-angry-t...

[2] https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4451977-mcconnell-dealt-...

[3] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-immigration-deal-republi...

[4] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-republicans...

[5] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-kill-b...

[6] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/white-house-mitch...

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