Schumer: Senate will take up standalone border bill this week

The Senate is expected to vote on a standalone border policy package this week, reviving a bipartisan compromise that collapsed in the upper chamber earlier this year.

The move to take up the legislation, which isn't expected to pass, comes as President Joe Biden prepares to issue border-focused executive actions that will almost certainly draw progressive ire. In a letter to senators Sunday night, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he doesn't expect all Democrats to support the bill, which was originally negotiated by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) in an effort to garner more Republican support for a broader foreign aid deal.

There are complex political calculations at work. The vote will force Democrats to go on the record on a critical issue ahead of the November election, with Republicans hammering Biden for failing to secure the southern border. Some Democrats, however, contend that Biden could face blowback if his executive actions lean too heavily on border crackdowns without including more positive tradeoffs for immigrants.

“We are hopeful this bipartisan proposal will bring serious-minded Republicans back to the table to advance this bipartisan solution for our border,” Schumer wrote in the letter.

“I will be honest: I do not expect all Democrats to support this legislation,” he said. “Many of our colleagues do not support some of the provisions in this legislation, nor do I expect all Republicans to agree to every provision. But that is often how bipartisan legislation must be shaped when dealing with an issue as complex and politically charged as our nation’s immigration laws.”

For months, Democrats have hammered Republicans for failing to support the bipartisan border compromise, accusing the GOP of intentionally trying to sabotage any effort at passing bipartisan border policies in order to bolster attacks against Biden ahead of Election Day.

“Back in January, the former president urged Congressional Republicans to kill the bipartisan bill, telling the world proudly to ‘blame it on me,” Schumer wrote. “The American people do not have the luxury of playing partisan blame games. They want bipartisan action to secure our border.”

Despite Lankford’s efforts to negotiate the package months ago, the Oklahoma Republican opposes the move to hold another vote, arguing that the Senate should move on and find a solution that can pass both chambers. That could involve holding separate votes on parts of the existing package or crafting a new deal altogether, he said.

“What they’re talking about next week, that’s not serious,” Lankford said last week, predicting that Schumer could lose about a dozen Democratic votes. “No one’s actually trying to sit down and solve it right now. And that’s my frustration.”

Ursula Perano contributed to this report.