Biden says he will veto the Republican border law this week

The House will vote on a sweeping immigration bill Thursday — the day Title 42 expires — and President Biden has already announced he will veto the legislation.

“While we welcome Congressional involvement in meaningful steps to address immigration and challenges at the border, this bill would make matters worse,” the White House said in a statement.

The Immigration and Border Security Act has been in the works for months after Republicans put the issue at the center of their campaign to take back the House.

The House package would bring back a number of Trump-era immigration policies, including Remain in Mexico, which requires those seeking asylum to wait in Mexico while their U.S. asylum application is processed.

It would also resume construction of the southern border wall, make it easier for minors crossing without their parents to be deported and allow migrant families to be held in detention for longer periods in the hope of ending ‘catch and release’ policy.

The bill would end Biden’s use of humanitarian parole directly targeting certain nationalities, which the administration broadly uses for Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans. It would mandate the use of e-verify for hiring employees and only accept asylum applications for those who do not cross the border illegally.

It would also limit federal funds for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that support migrants at the border, spending more money on border security technology and hiring more border agents.

The GOP leadership is confident the bill can get 218 votes in the House and will send it to the Senate, where it is unlikely to get a vote.

But Republicans were quick to note that there have been some five million detentions on the southern border since Biden took office.

Now some Democrats are calling on the president to negotiate some sort of reform with House Republicans.

Democrat Rep. Sharice Davids wrote to Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas demanded on Monday that he take part in immigration talks.

“You have had one year to lift Title 42, and I hope you and the President both recommit to working with Congress to get real results,” she wrote.

The immigration and border security bill has been in the works for months after Republicans put the issue at the center of their campaign to take back the House

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have introduced their own border package that needs another dig at funding to hire 87,000 IRS agents passed under the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — $15 billion intended for the IRS to divert to the southern border.

That bill, spearheaded by Senators Bill Cassidy and Tim Scott and co-sponsored by six others, would fund border inspections, the border wall and enforcement technologies, and end catch and release policies.

The new policy comes as the deadline for Title 42 is fast approaching — the pandemic-era public health policy that allows immediate eviction expires May 11.

Last Thursday, Mayorkas and Sec. of State Antony Blinken held a rare joint press conference to explain their way forward as Title 42 draws to a close.

“Our border is not open and will not be open after May 11,” Mayorkas said, even though he said the number of encounters would “increase” once the policy is lifted.

The Department of Homeland Security has predicted that officers could see up to 10,000 migrants a day when the policy expires.

The Biden administration plans to expand legal migration and open processing centers in South and Central America so that migrants hoping to enter can be pre-screened to see if they meet basic qualifications for various forms of entry before they make the journey.

The centers will become operational in Guatemala and Colombia in the coming weeks. Canada and Spain have also agreed to accept migrants from the centres.