ICYMI: Sens. Tuberville & Johnson Op-Ed: Schumer’s Bipartisan Immigration Deal is a Joke

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) co-wrote an op-ed in The Hill about Leader Chuck Schumer's fake attempt to address the border surge by revisiting the bipartisan "deal" that failed miserably back in February, branding it a "desperate political stunt during an election year." In the piece, Tuberville and Johnson describe the appalling data related to the millions of illegal immigrants who have crossed into the U.S. through President Biden's open border policies and expose Democrats for hypocritically claiming to care about the border while not voting for legislation to actually secure it.

This evening, Senator Tuberville and his Republican colleagues will take to the Senate floor to force votes on legislation that would end the border crisis. In the piece, Senator Tuberville highlights the bill he plans to put forward, the Border Safety and Security Act, which requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to shut down the border until the federal government regains operational control, whether through detention facilities or a program similar to Remain in Mexico.

Read excerpts below or the full op-ed here.

"The border crisis has become the single most unifying issue in American politics. Americans from all backgrounds - white, black, rich, poor, suburban, urban, Democrat and Republican - are horrified at the scenes of thousands of people overrunning the border. In the battleground states of Ohio, Montana, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all seen as vulnerable Senate seats for Democrats, voters view immigration as a top issue. Democrats are seeing the same polls we are seeing - and they are panicking.

For the past three years, President Joe Biden has overseen an invasion of over 11 million illegal aliens into our country. Many are military-age males about whom we know very little, thanks to the lack of screening and vetting from the Biden administration. What we do know is that, increasingly, they are coming from all over the world - at least 25,000 Chinese nationals have entered our country since October 1, 2023. Just last week, two Jordanian nationals attempted to break into Quantico, a Marine Corps base in Virginia, one of whom is allegedly on the terrorist watch list. These are the types of criminals President Biden is allowing to stream across our borders.

As two Republican senators, we cannot sit idly by while Democrats mislead the American people about what this immigration bill would do. When negotiations for this supposed border compromise began, we were hopeful that Democrats had come to their senses and decided to secure the border. Unfortunately, this rushed "deal" was made behind closed doors without input from most Republicans. Not surprisingly, that bill killed itself in less than 24 hours - with most Republicans and five Democrats eventually voting against it.

Now, in an election year, the Senate majority leader is trying to hide his party's appalling record on border security behind another vote on a broken bill that still does absolutely nothing to secure the border. In fact, it codifies an open border by allowing up to 5,000 illegal crossings per day before requiring the president to shut down the border. As far as we are concerned, one illegal crossing is too many; 5,000 is simply absurd. […]

Tonight, our Republican colleagues are taking to the Senate floor to force votes on serious legislation that would actually fix the problems at the border. One of the bills we will put forward is the Border Safety and Security Act, which requires the secretary of Homeland Security to completely shut down the border until the federal government has operational control of who is coming into our country. This bill is just one example of the many options Democrats could consider if they were actually serious about securing our border. The American people don't want a messaging exercise - they want to feel safe in their neighborhoods. If Sens. Tester, Brown, Rosen, Casey and Baldwin were listening to the concerns of their constituents, they would ditch Chuck Schumer's border stunt and vote for our commonsense legislation to actually secure the border and protect American citizens."

BACKGROUND:

Senator Tuberville supports common-sense policies that strengthen our border and national security like building the wall and reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the Remain in Mexico policy. Senator Tuberville has spoken about his concerns on the floor of the U.S. Senate and called on the Biden administration to act. In September 2023, Senator Tuberville helped introduce the Secure the Border Act of 2023, the Senate companion of the bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year, commonly known as H.R. 2.

During his first three years in the United States Senate, Senator Tuberville has made multiple visits to the southern border and worked on many legislative initiatives to secure the border, including giving law enforcement the tools needed to keep our communities safe and reforming immigration law to crack down on abuse and discourage illegal immigration.

In April 2024, Senator Tuberville delivered a floor speech urging his colleagues to hold Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas accountable. Sen. Tuberville voted for a full and fair trial - but all 51 Democrats blocked it.

In March 2024, Senator Tuberville cosponsored the Laken Riley Act, legislation that would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest illegal aliens who commit theft, burglary, larceny, or shoplifting offenses and would mandate that these aliens are detained until they are removed from the United States so they cannot commit other crimes.

Senator Tuberville slammed Joe Biden ahead of his State of the Union speech for remaining silent about Americans who have been killed by illegal aliens. Following the tragic death of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, Senator Tuberville delivered a floor speech urging Democrats to take action to prevent other Americans from being murdered at the hands of illegal aliens. He subsequently penned an op-ed concerning this same issue. Sadly, a few weeks later, he gave another floor speech after another American was killed by an illegal alien.

In December 2023, Senator Tuberville called on the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement to overhaul its harmful and deficient policies regarding the treatment of unaccompanied alien children in the United States.

In November 2023, Senator Tuberville cosponsored the Southern Border Transparency Act. The legislation would force DHS to increase its reporting of data about illegal immigrants entering the country, in turn providing greater transparency to the American people.

In August 2023, Senator Tuberville called on the Department of Defense to halt the sale of border wall construction materials after reports that the Department was moving quickly to dispose of the parts in violation of law.

In July 2023, Senator Tuberville introduced a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to strike down President Biden's Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule, which funnels illegal immigrants into unlawful parole programs that DHS established without Congress' consent. This funneling effect has allowed, and encouraged, more people with weak or non-existent asylum claims to enter the U.S.

In May 2023, following the expiration of Title 42, Senator Tuberville reintroduced The Empowering Law Enforcement Act, which would grant state and local law enforcement inherent immigration enforcement authority to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, or transfer an illegal immigrant who has entered the U.S. Additionally, this legislation would provide the DHS Secretary flexibility on how long a criminal alien may be detained, extending the current 180-day period to ensure violent criminals are not released back into communities.

In March 2023, Senator Tuberville introduced the Border Safety and Security Act to protect Americans by combatting the border crisis created by President Biden's immigration policies. The legislation puts more responsibility on the DHS Secretary and gives increased authority to state attorneys general to hold DHS accountable if the Department fails in its duty to restrict entry and detain illegal immigrants.

Also in March 2023, Senator Tuberville cosponsored the Stopping Border Surges Act to address loopholes in our immigration system that encourage vulnerable immigrant populations to take dangerous, illegal paths of entry into the United States. The legislation includes reforms that would reduce unsustainable surges of illegal immigrants, strengthen our asylum process, eliminate the incentive to send children to the border, and dampen the exploitative power of coyotes and cartels.

In 2021, Senator Tuberville introduced his first piece of legislation as U.S. Senator, which would require DHS to issue notices to appear to every single person paroled or released into the U.S., after media reported on the border becoming so overrun that Customs and Border Protection officers were forced to quickly release illegal immigrants into U.S. communities with no follow up for a date in immigration court.

Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs, and HELP Committees.

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