Conservative group urges Republicans, next speaker not to ‘squander’ chance to fix border crisis

A top conservative group is warning Republicans that the next speaker should not "squander" what it sees as an opportunity to push for greater border security and pass a GOP overhaul to solve the migrant crisis -- while urging caution on funding requests without policy changes that are tied to assistance to Israel.

The Heritage Foundation is publishing a brief, a copy of which was obtained ahead of publication by Fox News Digital, telling Republicans that an incoming speaker "cannot squander another opportunity to end the Biden border crisis."

The brief argues that Republicans missed an opportunity to address the border crisis by agreeing to a spending agreement last month that did not include the Secure the Border Act (H.R. 2) -- the House Republican signature border and asylum reform.

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"On September 30, just hours before a government shutdown and the Democrat-controlled Senate’s refusal to act, Congress did the exact opposite: It passed a 47-day Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the border and government open," Heritage’s Border Security and Immigration Center Director Lora Ries and visiting advisor RJ Hauman argue.

Other proposed versions of a CR had included the legislation, which passed the House earlier this year but has not yet been voted on in the Senate. Border hawks argued that linking it to funding the government was the best chance of getting the legislation, or a version of it, passed amid an ongoing crisis at the southern border. However, a "clean" CR was passed instead.

H.R. 2 would restart border wall construction, increase the number of Border Patrol agents, limit the use of parole to release migrants into the interior, re-establish the Migrant Protection Protocols, tighten the "credible fear" standard and expand penalties for visa overstays among other reforms.

Now, as the speaker’s race rolls on in the House and the Hamas terror attack on Israel has refocused concerns about the border, Ries and Hauman argue that Republicans and the new speaker "must intensify efforts to secure the border and ensure that our immigration laws are enforced."

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"Congress should continue to defund Biden’s open border tools and attach aggressive immigration policy riders to relevant appropriations bills awaiting consideration, the House should complete its investigation into the possible impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Members of Congress should once again consider requiring the inclusion of H.R. 2 as a condition for passing future government funding," they say.

The White House has requested an additional $14 billion in emergency supplemental funding, along with funding for Israel and Ukraine. However, Heritage warns against providing funding by itself, without policy changes, that it is tied to other countries' assistance.

"The time for action is now. H.R. 2 must become law if the homeland is truly to be secured: Simply writing a check as part of an unrelated supplemental spending bill will only worsen the crisis," they say.

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They say that while Israel merits U.S. support, "attaching ‘border security’ money to Israel funding without policy changes is a trap that, however well-intentioned, must be avoided."

The two border and immigration experts also outline suggestions to make existing spending bills stronger by putting riders on to limit what the Biden administration can do with the money being provided to it. They also back efforts in the House to impeach and remove Mayorkas from office for his handling of the border crisis.

"Most important, however, the border crisis should not be viewed as a problem that can be solved simply with more taxpayer dollars—a trap that has been laid alongside providing critical financial assistance to Israel," they warn.

The brief comes just days after the Biden administration announced new border numbers for September -- which marks the highest number of monthly encounters and records, meaning FY 23 as a whole saw the most yearly encounters on record.