Lib, I see you're buying into Trump's false choice, "my draconian solutions, or open borders and MS-13 running unchecked all over the US"...I have empathy for children, but I blame the liberals. They won’t do anything about the open southern border. So if we are going have open borders we should have totally open borders, no port of entry, no controls at all coming or going.
(I used to consider Barack Obama to be the "King Of The False Choice", but as with virtually every other negative or intellectually dishonest conduct a President can engage in, Trump kicks it up to a whole new level....)
Lib, permit me to provide you with a little of the recent history at efforts to craft some sort of comprehensive immigration reform (it's slightly more complicated than you suggest.):
George W. Bush first tried to get this issue handled, with the proposed Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehen ... ct_of_2007The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (full name: Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1348)) was a bill discussed in the 110th United States Congress that would have provided legal status and a path to citizenship for the approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants residing in the United States. The bill was portrayed as a compromise between providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and increased border enforcement: it included funding for 300 miles (480 km) of vehicle barriers, 105 camera and radar towers, and 20,000 more Border Patrol agents, [not exactly "open borders"]while simultaneously restructuring visa criteria around high-skilled workers.
The bills received heated criticism from both the right wing and the left wing. Conservatives rejected providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, as it would reward them for disregarding United States immigration laws. Liberals criticized the points-based system and provisions limiting family reunification visas available to only nuclear family members of US citizens as unfair. Labor unions, human rights, and some Hispanic organizations attacked the guest workers program, claiming that it would create a group of underclass workers with no benefits.[14]
Another criticism of the guest workers program was that because each guest worker is required to return home for a year before renewing his or her visa, these workers would instead overstay their visa, becoming illegal immigrants.
The bill's sole sponsor in the Senate was Majority Leader Harry Reid, though it was crafted in large part as a result of efforts by Senators Kennedy, McCain and Kyl, along with Senator Lindsey Graham, and input from President George W. Bush, who strongly supported the bill. For that reason it was referred to in the press by various combinations of these five men's names, most commonly "Kennedy-Kyl".
A larger group of senators was involved in creating the bill, sometimes referred to as the 'Gang of 12'.[1] Senator David Vitter of Louisiana led the opposition to the bill, clashing with McCain and Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.[2]
On June 7, three Senate votes on cloture (a move to end discussion) for the bill failed with the first losing 33–63, the second losing 34–61 and the third losing 45–50.[3] This had been thought by some observers to signal the end of the bill's chances, since on that day, after the first failing vote, Harry Reid had told reporters that, if another vote on cloture failed, "the bill's over with. The bill's gone."[4]
However, at the urging of President Bush, the bill was brought back for discussion in the Senate as bill S. 1639 on June 25.[5] On June 26, a motion to proceed passed the Senate, by a margin of 64–35 (under Senate rules it needed 60 votes).[6] A number of amendments to the bill were considered and rejected. On June 28, the bill failed to get the 60 votes necessary to end debate. The final cloture vote lost 46-53.[7] This effectively ended its chances, and President Bush said he was disappointed at Congress's failure to act on the issue.[8]
So, if one wants to assess this first effort fairly, a reasonable conclusion would be that it was a compromise put together by leaders of both parties that was sunk by hardcore rank and file elements of both parties that refused to accept compromise...
Now it's true that during the period from January 2009 to January 2011 when the Democrats controlled the White House and both houses of Congress they did nothing about this issue, so that's on them.
That brings us to the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, another bipartisan compromise:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Se ... ct_of_2013The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S.744) was a proposed immigration reform bill introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) in the United States Senate [1] and co-sponsored by the other seven members of the "Gang of Eight", a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators who wrote and negotiated the bill. It was introduced into the Senate of the 113th United States Congress on April 16, 2013.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the bill in April 2013.[2] The bill was voted out of Committee on May 21, 2013 and was placed on the Senate calendar.[3] On June 27, 2013, the Senate passed the bill on 68-32 margin. The bill was not considered by United States House of Representatives and died in the 113th Congress.
If enacted, the bill would have made it possible for many undocumented immigrants to gain legal status and eventually citizenship. It would have increased border security by adding up to 40,000 border patrol agents. It also would have advanced talent-based immigration through a points-based immigration system. New visas had been proposed in this legislation, including a visa for entrepreneurs and a W visa for lower skilled workers.[4] It also proposed new restrictions on H1B visa program to prevent its abuse and additional visas/green-cards for students with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees from U.S. institutions. The bill also included a $1.5 billion youth jobs program and repealed the Diversity Visa Lottery in favor of prospective legal immigrants who are already in the United States. [Again, not exactly "open borders"]
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated this reform bill would have reduced the U.S. fiscal deficit by US$197 billion over the next ten years and by $700 billion by 2033.[5] Its report also states that, if the bill had been passed, U.S. wages would have been 0.1 percent lower in 2023 and 0.5 percent higher in 2033 than under current law.[6] The Social Security Administration said that it would help add $276 billion in revenue over the next 10 years while costing only $33 billion.[7]
This bill proposes earned legalization for illegal immigrants (they have to wait for 13 years, pay all back taxes, learn English, no legalization for people with criminal records, and citizenship or permanent residence only after the border becomes fully secure).
Conservative Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives opposed this bill. House Republicans and Speaker Boehner have said that this bill will not be introduced on the House floor, a tactic which has been called anti-democratic by some as it prohibits U.S. House members from conducting a debate and a poll on this bill due to a so-called Hastert Rule.
So Boehner and the right wing of the House GOP own the defeat of this effort. If Boehner had put this bill on the House floor, which passed with bipartisan support on in the Senate, it would have passed, albeit without "the majority of the majority" . (The decision would probably also have cost Boehner his Speakership, but I really wonder if in retrospect considering everything that's happened since, if he wishes he had done it anyway.)
So Lib, we have one effort sunk by both sides, one missed opportunity owned by the Democrats, and another effort sunk by the GOP....
Like I said, the facts are a little more complicated then, "I blame the liberals. They won’t do anything about the open southern border. "...
