Many Republicans already are criticizing a border bill expected to be voted on in the U.S. Senate.
Former President Donald Trump blasted the proposed legislation Monday, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called it “dead on arrival.”
More than 11 million illegal immigrants have come across the border into the U.S. since President Joe Biden first took office, more than the population of about 40 U.S. states
any Republicans have said the border is already in crisis and needs to be shut down immediately.
“I’ve seen enough,” Johnson wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This bill is even worse than we expected, and won’t come close to ending the border catastrophe the President has created. As the lead Democrat negotiator proclaimed: Under this legislation, ‘the border never closes.’”
The bill seems to have little chance of passing the Republican-controlled House in its current state, but it remains unclear if it can even make it out of the Senate.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., blasted the bill on X Monday, one of several Republican senators to use strong language against the bill.
“The bill codifies catch-and-release under so-called ‘alternatives to detention’ for any alien who says they *intend* to apply for asylum or another protection,” Cotton wrote. “The bill gives immediate work permits to everyone who says they want asylum, as long as they pass an initial screening by liberal bureaucrats. This will be a huge magnet for more illegal immigration.”
Notably, Cotton said the bill creates a backdoor path for the DHS Secretary authority to grant migrants’ asylum claims.
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, criticized the legislation as well, saying online that “granting [DHS Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas the ability to grant asylum claims without going through immigration court is perhaps the worst provision of the bill.”
Politics have been front and center of the debate, which is unsurprising since the bill comes during a presidential election year and border crisis as Trump appears determined to make the border key to his campaign.
