Much the same way as 2016 when Muslims were the fear factor driving the GOP's outreach for voters, this year the fear factor is immigration at the southern border.
It's all about ginning up votes, not reasonable approaches to try and handle a very difficult situation.
Compounded now by adding funding for Ukraine and Israel.
The R's got what they wanted in the legislation, but then Trump decided for them that it was better to preserve the issue for November.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Israel suffer. And the Border Patrol doesn't get the bill they endorsed.
I'm pretty sure the WSJ isn't liberal, and the headline of their editorial board's article says it all:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-...sylum-bc2f9543