There is a little bit of everything in the 137-page proposed bill by the House Republicans on immigration. It’s a good response to the Biden border crisis so you know that means it’s going nowhere once it lands in the Senate. Democrats don’t care about the open border. It is porous by design by the Biden administration.

House Republicans released a sweeping immigration bill on Monday that would tighten asylum eligibility, expand migrant family detention and crack down on the employment of illegal aliens. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill Wednesday. There are some anticipated hurdles to get over in the House. How to secure the border causes friction within the Republican Party as well as the Democrat Party. Republicans may find agreement easier than Democrats but it’s not a done deal.

There have been previous delays in addressing border security. This bill is the product of behind-the-scenes negotiations over the past several weeks. The Republican leadership pushed back an immigration and border security bill markup due to infighting in March. At the time the bill was assumed to be delayed until after the April recess. That appears to be what happened. There is not much wiggle room for Republicans when it comes to defections since they only have a five-seat majority in the House. There are deep divisions among the caucus. Even among the Texas Republican delegation, Rep. Chip Roy is more hard-line than Rep. Tony Gonzales. Last December, Roy’s bill was considered to be ready to go for a vote on the House floor at the beginning of 2023. That didn’t happen. Some Republicans thought Roy’s bill went too far to restrict asylum.

The new bill includes provisions from Roy’s bill that would authorize the Homeland Security chief to block any foreign citizen from entering the U.S. if the official decides it “is necessary in order to achieve operational control over such border.”

But it does not include language from Roy’s bill that would also bar the government from allowing in asylum-seekers unless they can be detained or returned to Mexico.

There is also a counterpart border security measure to be released by the House Homeland Security Committee. Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) expects it to be released in mid-April. This is mid-April. It isn’t clear if it is ready yet.

The bill spells out specific penalties and requirements, including bringing back some of the previous administration’s policies. The limit on asylum eligibility for illegal immigrants traveling to the border is one Trump-era program. Eligibility of illegal immigrants restricts them from entering the United States if they travel through another country to come to the U.S. but didn’t seek asylum in that country. And, the illegal immigrant has to seek asylum at a port of entry, not some random point at the border. Illegal immigrant adults are subject to a $50 asylum fee. The Trump administration tried to impose an asylum fee, too, but it was stopped in court.

There are anti-trafficking protections that allow illegal immigrant children to stay with their parents in detention for however long the immigration court proceedings take. Current law states that they can’t be detained longer than 20 days.

Biden has increased the use of parole and the Republican bill puts limits on that authority. It allows the federal government to give illegal aliens permission to temporarily live and work in the U.S. Parole, for example, has provided legal authority for programs like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. Parole also helps Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s invasion of their country.

Last but not least, the bill aims to put a stop to employers who hire illegal aliens. It increases requirements for employers to electronically verify that the employee has permission to work in the U.S. Sounds like mandatory use of e-Verify, which is a solid, common sense requirement.

Rep. Gonzales of Texas and co-leader of the Congressional Hispanic Conference with Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida is scheduled for a press conference on the bill on Tuesday. Gonzales and his allies oppose some measures in the bill as too severe. Disagreements between Gonzales and Roy are nothing new on immigration reform. It will be interesting to hear what the specific objections are.

The introduction of this bill by House Republicans and the upcoming battles with Democrats will be a good preview of what is to come during the 2024 election cycle. You can believe that border security will be a key issue in the presidential election, at least if Republicans have anything to say about it.