As House Republicans won a majority this year, they planned to quickly pass a bill that would allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to refuse immigrants at the border. But the bill ran into a major obstacle: opposition from moderates in the Republican Party.

The delay and disagreement highlight the challenge for House Republican leaders in managing such a slim majority even for bills related to issues that drive the party's main messages.

In the current political context, Republicans have repeatedly accused Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of failing to meet the legal standard of “operational control” at the border by failing to prevent illegal entry and smuggling. As we mentioned earlier, during the first week of work in Congress, Texas Republican Representative Pat Fallon filed impeachment provisions against Mayorkas due to the immigration crisis on the southern border of the country.

“In December, House Minority Leader Steve Scalise added the 'Border Security and Protection Act' to a list of 12 bills and resolutions that Republicans planned to pass in the first two weeks of a Congressional session. , sending them directly to the House floor, rather than trying to follow a regular process while committees were still being organized," as reported by The Hill.

Texas Republican Representative Tony Gonzales, who represents a district on the US-Mexico border, warned that the bill could impede legal asylum claims:

“This bill is going nowhere for a wide variety of reasons. And I will do everything in my power to stop anti-immigrant legislation from crossing the finish line,” said Gonzales, co-chair of the strong “Congress Hispanic Conference,” an 18-member Republican caucus. Rep. Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, is the bill's lead sponsor, and said there was "misinformation" about the bill.

A slim Republican majority in the House means that any bill not supported by Democrats can be blocked if just five members oppose to it. Even if it passed the House, the bill would almost certainly die in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

“With the Border Security and Protection Act stalled, House leadership is working with the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees on a larger border package that it hopes to release later this year,” according to The Hill.

Still according to the publication, despite the intra-party division in Chip Roy's proposal, it is unlikely that any faction of the Republicans will cross the aisle to work with the Democrats before exhausting their options internally.

“There is a consensus, of course, among Republicans that, before we do anything else, we need to secure the border. And that's something we're working on. So, I feel very optimistic that we will be able to reach a consensus on this issue,” said Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, the other co-chair of the Hispanic Conference.

The border bill is one of five stalled bills and resolutions from the initial list of twelve that House Republicans hoped to pass in the first few weeks, demonstrating how discord in the GOP conference defies a slim majority.