The border security bill that has recently been introduced in congress would strip Texas of the power to challenge some of its provisions in federal court, some Conservatives have warned, reported Newsweek.
“This would prevent plaintiffs – like the State of Texas – from filing suit in Texas federal courts. This is corrupt,” former federal prosectutor Bill Shipley warned in a post on X.
Shipley was referring to a provision on page 221 of the bill that states that “The United States District Court for the District of Columbia shall have sole and original jurisdiction to hear challenges, whether constitutional or otherwise, to the validity of this section or any written policy directive, written policy guideline, written procedure, or the implementation thereof,” Newsweek reported on Monday.
The bill looks unlikely to pass the House after Speaker Johnson said in a post on X that “This immigration bill is dead on arrival in the House. We will not pass immigration legislation that further incentivizes illegal immigration, does not reform asylum and parole in a meaningful way, and empowers President Biden and his cabinet, the architects of this catastrophe.” Johnson also claimed that the bill was “worse than we expected”.
In the Senate, 60 votes would be needed to pass a procedural vote, but that appears to be unlikely as well. So far at least 19 Senate Republicans have announced that they will be voting against the bill, including Senators Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, as well as several in leadership roles.
Lee warned that the passage of the bill “could make things worse”.
Cruz said that “The good news: This bill is dead on arrival. The border bill is just terrible.”
The Border Patrol reported over 2 million encounters in FY2023 which ended in September.