Tensions between U.S. Senate Democrats and Republicans over President Barack Obama’s executive order on immigration has left the Senate deadlocked on the Department of Homeland Security funding bill.
The bill contains measures that remove initiatives mandated by the executive order such as deportation deferrals, which Obama put in place to give legal residency to millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States. The bill would end those deferrals, which U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., argued would encourage illegal entry into the country.
“Until we fix the incentives we create for illegal immigration, until we actually have policies that deter people from coming over here (illegally), we’re going to continue to have illegal immigration,” Johnson said to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The bill passed through the House of Representatives, and while Republicans control both houses of Congress, they do not have the 60 votes required to pass the bill in the Senate. Senate Democrats have said they do not intend to consider the bill until its executive order limitations have been removed.
If the bill does not pass by Feb. 27 then the Department of Homeland Security will be left without funding and will cease to operate, though its top officials intend to work even without their pay.
U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, of which Johnson is chair. Both Carper and Johnson visited the U.S-Mexico border last week, and while Carper did emphasize the need for increased security measures to cut down on illegal entry into the country, he also called out those in Congress who are trying to use the budget to undo Obama’s actions.
“If Congress wants stronger border security and immigration enforcement, a clean funding bill for DHS is what we should be rallying around,” Carper said in a Monday statement.
While the controversy over the department’s funding is related to immigration, failure to pass a budget would affect all facets of national security, which the department handles.
