I couldn't agree more.
In fact, that bill wasn't just bad policy, it was bad politics. That's the sort of thing politicians could get away with 20 years ago -- have a list of provisions that are going to appeal to those voters who want the border better secured....and then throw in a tolerance level (an average of 5k encounters per day over a 7 day period) needed to trigger stricter enforcement.
In a bygone era, that part wouldn't have gotten much coverage. In today's era, it became a lightning rod. And you could tell that Lankford, Murphy, etal had no idea how to respond to it. In some cases, they even tried to deny it...or say that it wasn't what it looked like.
The smart move for Schumer and Biden, if they wanted to try to get out ahead of that issue, would've been for the Senate to pass the HR2 Secure the Border Act which had already passed the House. Dare Republican Senators to follow Trump's advice to oppose it.
It probably still wouldn't have gotten 60 votes. But it would've been smarter politics.