Opinion: The Senate failed on the border issue. You can’t follow up if you let your allies fail.

For months, Republicans in Congress have rightly been sounding the alarm: The world is on fire, and the fire is reaching us all.

From Israel’s multi-pronged wars and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to China’s provocations against Taiwan and the migrant crisis, especially on our southern border, the United States needs to take the lead in both domestic and global emergencies.

Simply put, the situation on our nation’s southern border is dire. There have been more than 8.8 million illegal encounters there since the beginning of President Joe Biden’s term. Every month since the start of this year, we have seen historic records of illegal crossings. In December, more than 12,000 people passed through it in a single day.

The American people are demanding action to control the chaos, and lawmakers have a duty to act.

Last Sunday, hope came in the form of a comprehensive national security bill crafted through months of bipartisan negotiations. In addition to addressing the current migration crisis, it provided much-needed aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

This bill was a negotiated outcome, which by definition means neither side got everything it wanted, but it does take steps to strengthen immigration laws for the first time in decades. became.

Border legislation would fundamentally shift our approach to illegal immigration from “catch and release” to “detain and deport” by requiring higher asylum standards and expedited expulsion procedures. It will be. It closed loopholes that encouraged immigration and immediately imposed penalties on those who choose to ignore the law and enter our country illegally.

The border law also provided new funding to expand capacity and hire Border Patrol agents.

The Border Patrol Coalition supported the bill, saying it “codifies legal authority that U.S. Border Patrol agents have not had in the past” and called for “swift passage.”

Critics argued that the bill did not go far enough. That’s understandable, but last week they had a chance to debate the issue on the Senate floor rather than in a press conference.

I voted to move that conversation forward, begin the process of finding a path forward for immigration policy, and make real progress on our southern border.

But in an astonishing act of political whiplash, many who rightly argued that border security should be included as part of the security supplement bill refused to even bring the bill to the floor, blocking its passage. Even though he could have done so, he voted against considering the bill. Modifications to improve it did not go far enough.

Politics may have changed, but the problems have not. The border crisis is real and this is not the time for political messages. It is unfortunate that the current average of more than 10,000 railroad crossings per day is likely to continue for the rest of the election year and beyond.

While the Senate failed miserably on our border last week, we must not follow suit and abandon Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The Border Act provisions were removed and voted to proceed to consideration of the National Security Act.

We have an obligation to support our allies and keep our commitments, especially in times of war. This is especially true as the Ukrainian people continue to face their darkest moments, severely lacking the ammunition they need to fight Putin’s invasion of their country.

The National Security Act also ensures that we support Israel by providing security assistance to fight Hamas and other regional terrorist groups. It prepares its partners in the Indo-Pacific region, namely Taiwan, for fending off growing Chinese aggression. And we are combating the fentanyl crisis by targeting the illicit supply chains that allow cartels to funnel historic amounts of the drug across borders.

Much of the aid to allies will help replenish weapons inventories and production capacity and restore U.S. military readiness.

Now China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and the drug cartels are all watching us closely and hoping we fail. The world order and the security of our allies depend on strong American leadership, and failure to protect this moment will only show dictators that attacking democracy has no consequences.

Our safety, the fate of our allies, and lives are at stake. Congress hasn’t had that moment yet, but it can save some of it by passing national security legislation as soon as possible.

lisa markowski Represents Alaska in the U.S. Senate. She is a Republican.

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