GOP Senate bill would establish $25 billion border security trust fund, legal protections for Dreamers

Republican senators introduced legislation on Thursday that would establish a $25 billion trust fund for border security and codify legal protections for people covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rob Portman (R-OH), and John Thune (R-SD) introduced the bill to establish a border security trust fund. Annual contributions would be capped at $5 billion per year, and payments would be directed to at least 700 miles of reinforced fencing, physical barriers, access roads, lighting, camera systems, remote sensors and aircraft systems.

“This commonsense legislation would fulfill several urgent short- and long-term needs, which include extending permanent protection to today’s Dreamers who are facing an uncertain future and finally taking a meaningful step toward enhancing border security, which is a priority for the president and a majority of us in Congress,” Thune said. “Immigration policy is not easy, as this week has shown, but I’m confident that with a bill like the one we’ve just put forward, we’ll be able to find consensus among Republicans and Democrats.”

Portman said the measure would put stronger border security measures in place while providing a “sensible and fair solution” to codify protections for DACA recipients.

“Those in the DACA program are here through no fault of their own, and for many this is the only country they know,” Portman said. “This proposal represents a permanent legislative solution that will allow those in the DACA program to stay here and continue to contribute to our society while strengthening our border security to protect all Americans. Despite the failure to make progress today, I believe we still have a responsibility to resolve this issue, and this proposal is a fair and responsible solution that could get the necessary votes to become law.”

Moran said that Congress has an obligation to develop a humanitarian plan for children who were brought into the United States “through no choice of their own.” He also said that any immigration plan “must not inadvertently encourage further illegal immigration and must be coupled with enhanced border security.”

“This bill returns to the basics of what a vast majority of my colleagues and the president support — providing long-term certainty to DACA recipients and better securing our borders,” Moran said. “I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this sensible solution that provides us a realistic path forward to get a bill to the president’s desk.”