Where do NJ Republicans, Democrats stand on border security bill? A vote could come soon

A bipartisan bill in Congress tying border security measures to foreign aid will come before the Senate this week. It faces an uphill climb with former President Donald Trump pressuring Republicans to oppose it.

Where does New Jersey's congressional delegation stand on the legislation — especially the three Republicans who are part of the House majority that could decide the bill's fate? Will Democrats support a package that proposes more power to turn away migrants and asylum seekers at the border?

The Record and NorthJersey.com reached out to the Garden State delegation over the last week. Democrats said Congress must take action but largely withheld comment on specific reforms. The three Republicans did not respond but are on record blasting President Joe Biden's record on border issues.

An official text of the border bill was released Sunday, after weeks of negotiations among the White House, independent U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Republican James Lankford of Oklahoma.

The $118 billion package also includes funding for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and other U.S. allies. An initial vote in the Senate could be held Wednesday, said U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who leads the chamber.

What's in the Senate's border agreement?

The proposal would expand detention capacity and make it harder for people to qualify for asylum but would allow migrants who can claim credible fear to stay in the country and work. It also includes around $20 billion in additional funding to expand the Department of Homeland Security's ability to catch, process, house and transport migrants and to catch people smuggling fentanyl and other narcotics across the border.

Perhaps the most controversial element of the bill is a three-year policy to shut down the processing of asylum applications from people who crossed illegally if the number of expulsions and apprehensions of migrants reaches a weeklong average of 4,000. It would create a mandated shutdown after a weeklong average of 5,000 or more.

However, Trump has called on fellow Republicans — publicly and on social media — to oppose such a package. Democrats say he's trying to preserve the border as an election issue for the fall campaign, but his words have swayed Republicans. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, last week said the rumored Senate deal was too weak and would be "dead on arrival," though he denied that his opposition had anything to do with Trump.

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Where NJ Republicans stand

If New Jersey's three Republicans — U.S. Reps. Tom Kean Jr., Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew — agree or disagree with that sentiment, they have not made their stances known publicly. None responded to questions from NorthJersey.com.

But Kean, Smith and Van Drew have all had something to say about border security.

Thomas Kean Jr.

Kean, who represents the 7th Congressional District in Central and North Jersey, including parts of Sussex and Morris counties, referred to "President Biden's complete absence of border security" in January in comments on his website about a suggestion by the state to place migrants in the long-closed Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital in Hunterdon County.

"We cannot ignore the consequences of allowing millions of unvetted illegal migrants to enter our country," Kean said. "It's crucial that every level of government prioritizes the safety and well-being of our communities while also addressing the root causes of this issue."

Kean touted his support for the Secure the Border Act of 2023, a Republican bill that passed the House along a mostly party-line vote last year. The bill would force the Biden administration to restart construction of a border wall, increase the number of Border Patrol agents and provide bonus pay to those agents. It also would reinstate a "remain in Mexico" policy that caused some asylum-seekers to be sent back to Mexico during immigration proceedings.

Jeff Van Drew

Van Drew, who represents New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District, covering much of South Jersey, demanded in a Jan. 23 press release that the Senate pass the Secure the Border Act. The Republican, the chairman of Trump's reelection campaign in New Jersey, has also spoken out against migrants who ended up in New Jersey, where 22% of the population are immigrants, according to census data.

In September, he lashed out at a suggestion by the federal government to house migrants at Atlantic City International Airport, saying he guaranteed that among the new arrivals, "there will be individuals who are criminals." Last month, he criticized both Gov. Phil Murphy and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after buses transporting migrants from Texas and Louisiana to New York City dropped off passengers at several Garden State transit hubs.

The trips were arranged by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican.

Chris Smith

Smith, who represents the Jersey Shore-centric 4th Congressional District, also called for passage of the Republican border proposal after the arrival of the migrant buses in New Jersey.

"President Biden’s illegal open-border policies and failure to secure our southern border continue to seriously jeopardize our national security and the safety of American citizens as hundreds of migrants are now being bused to New Jersey and left at train stations throughout our state," Smith said in a press release.

The influx of migrants, he said, has left women and children "vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking" and enabled the smuggling of deadly drugs like fentanyl into the country.

Democrats on the border proposal

Several New Jersey congressional Democrats were more responsive about the proposed compromise, and Trump's attempt to get Republicans to block it, in statements to NorthJersey.com.

Bill Pascrell

Bill Pascrell, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Bergen and Passaic counties, including his hometown of Paterson, said in a statement, "Failure to address border security so it can be a political issue for Trump’s campaign is appalling. Failure to support Ukraine against Russian invasion would be a catastrophic abdication of leadership. Abandoning this bill will make New Jersey, America, and the world less safe."

Mikie Sherrill

Sherrill, whose 11th Congressional District covers portions of Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties, said Sunday that the bill would "secure our border, strengthen our economy and provide pathways for legal migration, asylum and citizenship with policies the majority of Americans support." She also said it was "infuriating" to see Republicans walk away from the deal.

Rob Menendez

Rob Menendez, whose 8th Congressional District includes much of Hudson County and parts of Newark and Elizabeth, said he was concerned that the proposed Senate bill would "fundamentally alter the asylum process, which would impact members of our communities as well as families of those seeking asylum."

Menendez said tying foreign aid to border policy would make it more difficult for the targeted countries to receive aid. He also said Trump's opposition "proves — yet again — that former President Trump and Republicans do not want to fix our border or immigration system challenges and will continue to play politics."

Frank Pallone

Frank Pallone, whose 6th Congressional District encompasses portions of Middlesex County and coastal Monmouth County, echoed some of those sentiments, saying that "Republicans are holding our national security hostage" while "Democrats support commonsense immigration reform and border security."

Donald Norcross

Donald Norcross, from the 1st Congressional District, which includes Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties, struck a conciliatory tone. "The only way we can truly fix the border is to put politics aside and work together on commonsense security solutions that also include comprehensive immigration reform." Norcross was also the only representative among those contacted by NorthJersey.com who indicated he would support a bipartisan bill if it comes up for a vote.

Donald Payne Jr.

Payne, the representative for the 10th Congressional District, covering parts of Essex and Union counties and a section of Jersey City, referred to his comments Thursday during a hearing on a Republican plan to impeach Mayorkas, the Homeland Security secretary. Payne said he opposed the impeachment, and that Republicans and Democrats should "come together and find reasonable, humane and equitable proposals to address this complex issue."

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez

Menendez said in a statement Sunday that "the so-called ‘bipartisan’ border negotiations in the Senate have yielded an unacceptable deal" and that major portions of the bill, released Sunday, that he got to study "read like an enforcement wish list from the Trump administration, and directly clash with the most basic tenets of our asylum system."

Other Democrats, including North Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, didn't provide immediate comments to NorthJersey.com as of Monday morning.

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ACLU has reservations about asylum

The ACLU of New Jersey also expressed reservations about the rumored border security deal.

ACLU-NJ Senior Staff Attorney Farrin Anello said the group "is deeply concerned by reports that Senate negotiators may be considering a rushed package of major changes to our immigration system, some of which could make it impossible for refugees fleeing persecution abroad to seek protection in the United States."

Anello said the federal government "should focus on reforms such as building capacity to review asylum claims, providing lawyers for those who cannot afford them, providing housing assistance for asylum-seekers, and speeding up the work authorization process so asylum-seekers can support themselves and their families."

After the bill was released Sunday, the immigration advocacy group Make the Road New Jersey weighed in. Eliana Fernandez, the group's organizing director, said, "This new proposed legislation will not only overwhelm our borders but will also create more harm, more confusion, and more chaos for vulnerable families and Black, brown, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ migrants."

Fernandez then implored President Joe Biden and Congress to "reject any legislation that guts our immigration system instead of fixing it."

Ricardo Kaulessar covers race, immigration, and culture for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com

Twitter: @ricardokaul

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Border security bill: Where NJ Republicans, Democrats stand