In 2013, two years before Trump declared his intention to run for president, Republicans blocked passage of a measure requiring the Homeland Security Department to finish construction of 350 miles of double-layer fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who recently urged Trump to “hang tough” in the battle against Democrats over wall funding, was among five GOP lawmakers who voted to defeat the fence even though he supported it at the time.
Trump and Republicans have in recent days accused Democrats of abandoning previous support for a border wall because of their intense dislike of the president.
“The only reason they are against it is because I won the presidency,” Trump said last week.
But the battle over wall funding has been simmering for years, and the effort in Congress to pay for it has grown increasingly partisan and complicated.
Graham’s vote against the fence more than five years ago is a prime example.
On June 18, 2013, the Senate was poised to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill, the first of its kind in years and one that lawmakers had long sought to achieve. It coupled new border security measures with a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s approximately 11 million illegal immigrants.
The bipartisan “Gang of Eight” lawmakers who authored the bill included Sens. Graham, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., John McCain, R-Ariz., and four Democrats.
Lawmakers debated and voted on a string of amendments to the bill, and the list included a measure authored by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., that would have required “completion of the 350 miles of reinforced, double-layered fencing” before any the nation’s approximately 11 million illegal immigrants could apply for green cards.
The 350 miles make up half the length of fencing called for in the Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
“This would ensure that the border is more secure before any legalization program is carried out,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said during Senate debate in support of Thune’s amendment.
But all the Democrats voting at the time refused to back the fence. They threatened to block final passage of the reform bill if Thune’s amendment passed.
The four GOP authors of the reform bill, along with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted to help Democrats defeat the Thune amendment in order to protect the immigration reform bill, which finally passed the Senate but then died in the GOP-led House.
Every singe Senate Democrat voted against the fence, almost two years before Trump descended the escalator stairs to announce his plan to seek the GOP nomination for president.
Democratic support for a wall dwindled some time after 2006, when both the House and Senate passed the Secure Fence Act with bipartisan backing.
The bill was signed into law by former President George W. Bush in 2006. It authorized the construction of hundreds of miles of “additional fencing” on the southern border, as well as “more vehicle barriers, checkpoints, and lighting to help prevent people from entering our country illegally.”
The measure passed the Senate 80-19 and supporters included then-Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., as well as Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is currently leading the upper chamber’s fight against wall funding. Other Democrats who currently serve in the Senate also voted for the fence.
Most House Democrats voted against the 2006 Secure Fence Act, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who recently declared a southern border wall “an immorality.”
Pelosi and other Democrats have backed fencing in recent spending measures, however. They voted for last year’s Homeland Security spending measure, which provided money for new barriers and to reinforce existing fencing, including along the border in San Diego. And they did not object to Obama’s use of federal money to complete fencing and barriers along the southern border when he was president.
Democrats now say no new walls are necessary on the border.
Pelosi in recent days has made the case that if there is a border crisis as Trump contends, it is humanitarian and not the national security threat portrayed by the president. Pelosi urged Trump and Republicans to soften their stance on the wall. She and Democrats say the border can be secured instead with drones and other technological advances.
“Let’s have this discussion on where we can agree on the best ways to protect our borders, to secure our borders, to do so in a way that honors our values,” she said.
