Republicans, Don’t Reject Border Progress

Congress is returning to Washington this week and must finish government spending bills before a deadline only weeks away. But the most important question for the country is whether President Biden and lawmakers will strike a deal combining weapons for Ukraine and Israel with policy changes on border security. Alas, some Republicans are sounding as if they’d rather do nothing.

House Speaker Mike Johnson summed up the southern border as an “unmitigated disaster” in a GOP expedition to Eagle Pass, Texas, last week, and most Americans agree with him. Months ago Democrats wouldn’t even discuss changing incentives to the asylum system that has allowed so many migrants to enter the U.S. and spread far and wide.