Senate holds a test vote on border bill as Democrats seek to underscore Republican resistance

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats are trying for a second time to push ahead with a bill to clamp down the number of migrants allowed to claim asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sought on Thursday to underscore Republican resistance to the proposal.

The legislation, negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators, was already rejected by most Republicans in February when it was linked to a foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies. But with immigration and border security becoming one of the top issues of this year's election, Democrats are looking for an answer to the barrage of GOP attacks, led by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, on border security.

“Senators will face an important decision. Will both sides come together to advance a bipartisan border security bill or will partisanship get in the way once again?” Schumer, a New York Democrat, said this week.

Schumer is trying to defend a narrow Senate majority in this year's election and sees the Republican's rejection of the deal they negotiated as a political “gift” for Democrats. While a majority of Democrats were expected to support the procedural vote to begin debate on the bill, the proposal seemed to be losing traction in the Senate as not even the primary Republican author, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, expressed support for Schumer's move.