A Brief History Of Republicans Walking Away From Bipartisan Immigration Deals

WASHINGTON ― A bipartisan compromise on immigration reform fell apart this week in the Senate as Republicans heeded former President Donald Trump’s advice to kill it.

The deal’s demise showed Trump’s power over Republicans, but it also continued a long-running pattern in immigration politics where a group of Republicans and Democrats strike a compromise, and then the GOP bails.

Lawmakers reached bipartisan agreements on immigration in 2006, 2013 and 2018, pairing pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants ― the thing Democrats wanted ― with border security for Republicans. Each time, Republicans walked away decrying “amnesty” for illegal aliens.

This time, the deal changed. Republicans would get tougher border security, including provisions Democrats had criticized during the Trump administration as unacceptable, without agreeing to a pathway to citizenship. Instead, they would agree to a package of military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Again, Republicans negotiated the deal ― and then sprinted away from it.

One reason may be that advocating for stricter immigration policy, regardless of the actual results, is just plain easier than demanding a fairer and more just process for people who are not U.S. citizens, said Jorge Loweree, managing director of programs and strategy at the American Immigration Council.

“You’re preying on people’s fears,” Loweree said, “and if you can do that successfully, there’s very little that can be done to bring somebody back from that.”

In 2006 and 2013, the Senate approved bills that would have beefed up border enforcement while creating a pathway to citizenship for as many as 11 million undocumented immigrants, only for the legislation to stall out in a