I know you all will find it hard to believe, but both the President and Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell lied about what was in the compromise immigration and border security bill that was negotiated between Senator McConnell, the Vice President, and Jared Kushner. It is not a combination of The Bridge Act for the Dreamers for three years, a renewal of the Temporary Protected Status Program for three years, funding for a variety of border security initiatives, and funding for about 200 miles or so of the Maga-Dope Line/the President’s border wall. Rather it is a simple three year DACA extension with none of the Bridge Act language, the Temporary Protected Status Program fix for three years isn’t actually a fix or for three years as it excludes all African countries, funding for the various border security initiatives and the Maga-Dope Line, and a major revision to the Immigration Act that narrows and restricts asylum.
The bill that McConnell will bring to the floor outside of regular order – no committee and/or sub-committee drafting, markup, debate, and/or vote – appears to have been written by Stephen Miller. This bill doesn’t even temporarily free the hostage that the President himself took, instead it continues to hold them hostage and it takes new ones and kills them. On Saturday I wrote that neither the President nor Senator McConnell could be trusted to negotiate in good faith. The bill that McConnell is going to bring to the floor is a prime example of why they can’t. I’m relatively sure McConnell agreed to this so that he can use it to provide the President with more ammunition to blame the Democrats. I would be very surprised if he releases any of the members of the GOP caucus in the Senate from the whip with the exception, perhaps, of Senator Murkowski. The point of this exercise appears to be:
- Make it look like like Mitch McConnell is actually doing something.
- Set up a vote on a bait and switch bill where all the Democrats vote no, all the Republicans vote yes, so the bill dies because it can’t clear the 60 vote cloture threshold.
- Blame Democrats for being unwilling to meet the President halfway, accept a compromise offered in good faith, and, as a result keep the government shutdown.
- Continue to blame the shutdown on Democratic intransigence.
- Continue to work the political reporters in the news media so they won’t report on this accurately because the granular details are boring.
- Allowing McConnell to escape any blame and be rewarded once again for being an unfaithful interlocutor who has no compunction, and faces no consequences, for breaking every norm, violating every tradition, and stretching every rule and law to breaking in order to achieve his own objectives.
Here are the granular details:
NEW: POTUS's "offer" to re-open the government is up. In at least 2 places I've seen, there was a huge effort to mislead press & public:
1) They keep calling this the BRIDGE Act. It is not, its just current DACA
2) This has *massive* asylum restrictions https://t.co/32wd7qoxbg— Todd Schulte (@TheToddSchulte) January 22, 2019
This is also *not* an extension for those who have TPS, despite that is how it was sold.
It only covers 4 countries, albeit the largest ones in terms of TPS population, Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala & Honduras. Excludes all the African countries for example.
— Todd Schulte (@TheToddSchulte) January 22, 2019
2) They change TVPRA to that children from contiguous countries like the northern triangle who escape violence and reach the US can be immediately deported with a chance to seek an asylum hearing.
Look maybe you think this is good (it is not!)…but they lied about the bill.
— Todd Schulte (@TheToddSchulte) January 22, 2019
Starting to read through the latest Trump-McConnell approps bill. #Immigration attorneys, am I right that this section (pg. 1275) would limit future TPS grants to ONLY those lawfully present? That would be a big (and bad) change. https://t.co/fyd3PZs4ra pic.twitter.com/UIuTaYgyiS
— Philip Wolgin (@pwolgin) January 22, 2019
Under the so-called "compromise" bill, only 50k Central American Minors allowed to apply for asylum each year, and only 15k asylum applications can be granted. AND it wouldn't be done by immigration judges, it would be a totally nonreviewable DHS decision. And no judicial review!
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 22, 2019
Oh wow, and limits on the right to counsel! The Secretary of State is required to ensured that covered CAMs are permitted to apply at in-country processing centers, but says only UACs would be guaranteed a right to have an attorney present. pic.twitter.com/mUyC1Lxeyk
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 22, 2019
Now that the bill text is out, Democrats should see almost immediately that the President's claimed "compromise" is a complete joke. This bill would be one of the single-biggest dismantling of America's systems of humanitarian protections ever. It's Stephen Miller's dream bill.
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 22, 2019
And there are some "fun" new grounds for having an asylum declared frivolous, inc:
1. You filed the application "in whole or in part" to obtain work authorization or be placed in removal proceedings.
2. You filed the application to delay removal.Just… wow. pic.twitter.com/Rf0J6tAqR6
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 22, 2019
Oh, and if you ever want to withdraw an your asylum application, you'll be deemed to have filed a frivolous application unless you WAIVE ALL OTHER APPLICATIONS AND TAKE VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE.
That would be a wild change that would cause HAVOC in the immigration courts. pic.twitter.com/hg9faS5CVN
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 22, 2019
The bill also adds new criminal bars on asylees and refugees adjusting to permanent resident status. No longer does the green card process adhere to the normal process with standard grounds of inadmissibility. Now it's conviction for "a felony." Even with zero jail time. pic.twitter.com/s5ENZd3xQr
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 22, 2019
And here the bill guts the Trafficking Victim's Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) by allowing the government to forcibly return unaccompanied children if they ask for asylum, unless it's "more probable than not" that they'd win asylum, or be trafficked. A high standard! pic.twitter.com/acmi6qG7jw
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 22, 2019
And that's it; the last part of the asylum section are just technical amendments, nothing else. I left out some other minor changes that are weird and awful. And, fair warning, I may have made a mistake or two in my haste (hope not). But wow, this bill is not a "compromise."
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 22, 2019
Importantly, both withholding of removal and CAT protection are (1) harder to win, and (2) provide no path to permanent resident status and eventually citizenship. They're orders of removal with an agreement not to carry them out for now, plus (most of the time) a work permit.
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 22, 2019
For context, there is no filing fee for asylum applications in the US or (nearly) anywhere else in the world. So Trump wants to bill Central American refugee kids. Because of course he does.
— Matt Cameron ? (@matt_cam) January 22, 2019
Under current law such kids aren’t barred at all from requesting asylum and they are placed in removal proceedings and can request asylum affirmatively. /2
— Tom Jawetz (@TomJawetz) January 22, 2019
The bill earlier creates a complete #AsylumBan for all children from Northern Triangle countries who arrive in the US and request asylum. Theyd be barred from eligibility under 208 so by definition it would never be more probable than not that they’d establish eligibility. /4
— Tom Jawetz (@TomJawetz) January 22, 2019
Not an asylum change but a #TPS change: the bill says in the future only people who are lawfully present can get Temporary Protected Status.
What does that mean?
— Tom Jawetz (@TomJawetz) January 22, 2019
There is no way any Democratic senator can vote for this. What remains to be seen is whether McConnell can successfully pull this off. We won’t know until there is an actual vote and we see how the politics reporters cover it. But if the past decade is any indicator he most likely can. Better start calling your senators!
Open thread.