Republicans and Democrats antagonously launched the new Congress’ first major immigration policy conference, with little agreement on even the most basic facts on the issue.

The two parties are currently clashing twice on the legislative stage in hearings convened by the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Despite their pleas, they have accomplished little beyond highlighting the growing partisan divide.

The Judiciary Committee, led by Republican agitator Jim Jordan (Ohio), has focused on alleged links between immigration and fentanyl trafficking, accusing the Biden administration of deliberately dismantling border security. He denounced and hosted a more militant hearing.

“Without a doubt, the Biden administration is executing on that plan,” Jordan said in his opening address last week.

“Everyone heard [Homeland Security] secretary [Alejandro] “We are implementing our plans at the border,” said Mayorcas, sitting in front of the committee. And I heard President Biden say, “We’re trying to make it easier for people to get here.

Tuesday’s oversight hearings, led by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), were relatively muted, featuring two Border Patrol chiefs as witnesses, but Democrats remained the focus of Republican themes. I expressed my anger at the handling.

“The Republican extreme MAGA forces have chosen to abandon the pro-immigration stance of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan and instead replace it with fears about ‘foreign invasion,’ racist and anti-Semitic It has chosen to spread paranoia about the ‘great alternative’ myth, and disinformation about the U.S. fentanyl–most of which work for international drug cartels and serve Americans passing through legal ports of entry. It is brought into our country by smugglers,” said Rep. Jamie Ruskin (D-Maryland), the Democratic head of the Oversight Committee.

“It is my earnest hope that today’s hearings will be an opportunity to seek bipartisan consensus, rather than a missed opportunity. It just extends the pattern.”

However, Ruskin’s hopes for bipartisanship were soon dashed.

Following Kummer and Ruskin’s opening remarks, Kummer took the microphone and complained about the White House memo released early Tuesday morning. ” and Overseer Democrat Tweet “Everyone except @GOPoversight members who are using today’s hearings to amplify white supremacist conspiracy theories instead of a comprehensive solution to protect our borders and strengthen our immigration system. Good morning and good luck.”

“I mean, really? I don’t even know what to say about it,” said Comer, reminding Democrats that House rules prohibit personal attacks between lawmakers.

For the next five hours, oversight members essentially reenacted the proceedings that had broken up the week before at the Judiciary Committee.

At the heart of the rift uncovered by both hearings is whether the fentanyl crisis, legal immigration, asylum and border security should be treated as separate issues, or whether a crackdown on the border will solve everything. disagreement about.

But the witness was the key difference between the two hearings.

Comer invited two active-duty border security professionals, Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley Sector Lead Agent Gloria Chavez and Tucson Sector Lead Agent John Modlin, both to speak to Republicans and Democrats on a variety of border-related issues. I answered the question of

“If you want to hold big red meat political hearings, there will be families of victims who lost their lives to fentanyl. There will be people who have been trafficked. I just asked the four bosses of the Guard,” Comer told attendees at a National Press Club event last month.

Jordan took a “red meat” approach, calling on Brandon Dunn, a father who lost his son to a fentanyl overdose and founder of the Forever 15 Project, an organization to raise awareness about the dangers of drugs.

Ohio Republicans also called Sheriff Mark Danells of Cochise County, Arizona, and county judge Dale Lynn Carruthers of Terrell County, Texas (although Carruthers was not present due to weather conditions). could not.

Advocates were highly critical of Jordan’s selection of Dunnells and Carruthers as witnesses, noting that Dunnells frequently appeared in right-wing media and claimed ties to immigration control groups.

Heidi Beirich, an expert on right-wing groups in America and Europe and co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said the Dunnels and Carruthers embraced the rhetoric of “aggression” on the southern border. .

“The fact that Daniels and Carruthers engaged in racist rhetoric about immigration, and their hate and connections to other extremist groups, disqualifies them from productive discussion about anything related to immigration. I will do it,” said Beylich.

Many Democrats denounced the Republican “aggression” rhetoric as excessive, but most Republicans avoided the term, and Rep. Wesley Hunt (Republic of Texas) defended its use.

“The definition of an invasion is the encroachment of a large number of people or things into a place or area of ​​activity,” he said, adding that enough fentanyl entered the United States to “kill every American five times.” He repeated his claim.

“I think that’s the direct definition of the word aggression,” said Hunt.

But Democrats hit hard on the point with Customs and Border Protection data showing that more than 90% of fentanyl enters the United States through legal customs clearance.

“This hearing is not about border security or solving the opioid crisis. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) said.

“Republicans are trying to rewrite history and hide extremist agendas from the American public,” he added. “This extremist is trying to say immigrants are trafficking fentanyl across unchecked borders, but we know that is not true. Why? It happens at the port of entry for U.S. citizens, not for foreigners.”

Partisan divisions over immigration policy prescriptions are nothing new.

“This is just pointing fingers rather than a serious problem-solving effort, political theater rather than problem-solving, and Congress has abandoned its role for decades, so immigration and Immigration Renewal Doris Meissner, former commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, who now heads the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Immigration Policy Institute, said:

But the rift’s scope and political ramifications are growing.

“Worldviews seem so dichotomy. How can we bridge the gap in the world?” Rep. Andy Biggs (R. Arizona) said:

Democrats believe that the Republican Party’s hard line is merely a political position.

“It’s a presidential election now. It’s about immigration. It’s an effective book that can be used over and over again. It’s going to be ugly,” said Rep. Lou Correa (California Democrat).

Despite the distance between the two parties, Border Patrol officers, who at Tuesday’s hearing largely described the situation of officers as underresourced compared to smugglers and cartels, called for some form of legislative action. rice field.

“I think we need to embrace change, change for the better, to reform immigration laws, to balance and take immigration and border security seriously. We need to find a solution,” said Rio Grande Valley Border Security. Chavez, head of the department, said.

Contributed by Emily Brooks.