Former President Donald Trump has once again blasted the bipartisan border deal that is dividing congressional Republicans saying it’s one of the ‘dumbest bills’ he has ever seen.
Trump had already called it a ‘ridiculous’ border bill online and said it was ‘nothing more than a highly sophisticated trap for Republicans to assume the blame on what the Radical Left Democrats have done to our Border, just in time for our most important EVER Election. Don’t fall for it!!!’
Speaking during an interview on Newsmax, Trump continued to repeat such claims suggesting the bill represents a ‘death wish’ for the party in 2024.
‘This is a Democrat trap. It’s a trap for Republicans that would be so foolish, so stupid to sign a bill like this. This bill can’t be signed,’ Trump said.
‘Not only that, it’s massive amounts of money going out of town. Billions and billions and billions of dollars. It’s so bad on the border. Actually, it’s one of the worst – one of the dumbest bills I’ve ever seen.’
Former President Donald Trump has once again blasted the bipartisan border deal that is dividing congressional Republicans, after negotiators announced the details
A group of migrants are processed by Border Patrol after crossing the river illegally near Eagle Pass, Texas
U.S. Border Patrol agents guard migrants that crossed into Shelby Park as they wait to be picked up for processing
Speaking during an interview on Newsmax on Monday, Trump continued to repeat claims suggesting the bill represents a ‘death wish’ for the party in 2024
Trump was vehemently against the bill’s provision that would allow the administration to shut down the border when daily crossings hit 5,000.
The $118 billion bill, which combines border security with aid for Ukraine and Israel, faces opposition from Trump and his allies, who consider it weak, and from some Democrats and progressives who think it would gut the asylum process at grave human cost.
If it overcomes the long odds, the legislation would radically upend how asylum is handled at the border. Asylum, once a policy afterthought, is now the border’s dominant challenge.
‘Only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill, which only gives Shutdown Authority after 5000 Encounters a day, when we already have the right to CLOSE THE BORDER NOW, which must be done. This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party,’ Trump posted to his Truth Social account on Monday.
‘It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans.’
‘Don’t be STUPID!!!’, the former president continued. ‘We need a separate Border and Immigration Bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape, or form! The Democrats broke Immigration and the Border. They should fix it.’
‘The crisis has literally never been worse,’ Biden said on Monday, urging action. He said the ‘gaping hole’ in the nation’s borders ‘is not going to heal itself.’
President Joe Biden talks during a stop at No. 1 Boba Tea during a stop in Las Vegas on Monday
Even before the text was released, Trump called the idea of a 5,000 threshold ‘record-setting stuff’ and said supporting the package – which also includes $60 billion in wartime aid for Ukraine – is a ‘death wish’ for Republicans.
At issue is a provision in the bipartisan package that would grant the Homeland Security secretary emergency authority to prohibit entry for most if an average of more than 4,000 people per day try to enter the country unlawfully over the course of a week.
If the number reaches 5,000 or if 8,500 try to enter unlawfully in a single day, use of the authority would be mandatory.
The bill, released by senators on Sunday, would also make it harder to claim asylum at the border and expand detention facilities, among other efforts to reduce the number of migrants.
If the proposal were passed into law, the new authority could be triggered almost immediately, given that border encounters topped 10,000 on some days during December, which was the highest month on record for illegal crossings. President Joe Biden has said he would use the authority to ‘shut down’ the border.
Still, many Republicans say the number should be zero. And some have even created the impression that the bill actually would allow 5,000 additional migrants in a day, or loosen current standards.
A group of migrants are processed by Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande. The border has become an epicenter of a prickly conflict between Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, and the Biden administration
An aerial view shows an immigrant group trying to cross the Texan border despite heightened security measures in Eagle Pass, Texas. Border Patrol moved migrants away from the Eagle Pass border of US-Mexico as a precautionary measure
The swift and loud opposition from GOP lawmakers who have long called for stricter border measures has frustrated some members of their own party.
The backlash suggests the bipartisan bill has little chance of passage, especially in an election year. House Speaker Mike Johnson called it ‘dead on arrival,’ and a new hashtag has appeared on the official X account for House Republicans: #killthebill.
The three main negotiators on the Senate bill – Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut – have all pushed back on criticism of the bill. They emphasize that it would keep more people out instead of allowing more people to come in – and that migrants would not be able to apply for asylum at all if illegal border crossings reach certain numbers.
The policy is similar to one first used by Trump. Known as Title 42, it justified the quick expulsion of migrants from the country in the name of stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Lankford has repeatedly emphasized that the emergency authority ‘is not designed to let 5,000 people in, it is designed to close the border and turn 5,000 people around.’
After meeting with Republicans in the Capitol Monday evening, Lankford told reporters that people understand it once he explains it, ‘but it´s been said wrong so many times that people immediately just go back to, `this lets 5,000 people in a day,´ which is just factually wrong, but if you say it enough, it just sounds true.’
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) helped negotiate a bipartisan immigration package that also includes U.S. support for Ukraine and Israel
Trump’s fury came in the hours since negotiators put out details on their new bipartisan deal to provide new authority for the administration to ‘close’ the border when crossings spike, while sending billions to support allies Ukraine and Israel.
Among those to heap the most scorn on the agreement was Utah Senator Mike Lee – who even appeared to demand a change in his party’s leadership after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell helped oversee the deal with Majority Leader Senator Charles Schumer.
McConnell, the longest serving Republican leader in Senate history, survived a leadership challenge in November 2022 on a 37-10 vote.
‘This feels like an elaborate practical joke. But it’s not funny. Not one bit. I cannot understand how any Republican would think this was a good idea—or anything other than an unmitigated disaster. WE NEED NEW LEADERSHIP — NOW,’ he wrote on X.
‘Senate leadership screwed this up — and screwed us,’ he wrote in another post. Even while refusing to let us see the bill they claimed to be negotiating on our behalf — for MONTHS — they were never in doubt, insisting we’d be dumb and even unpatriotic NOT to support it. This is a disqualifying betrayal.’
Utah Sen. Mike Lee used the bipartisan immigration bill to issue a call for ‘new leadership’
Lee called the deal ‘even worse than we thought’
Sen. Mike Lee is just one of the Senate conservative Republicans who have hammered the compromise in the hours after it was released
Former President Trump railed against the deal online before going on to do TV interviews
That attack came amid criticism that House Speaker Mike Johnson and allies were killing the deal at the behest of Trump to avoid giving a political win to President Joe Biden during a crucial election year.
Among those making that case was Majority Leader Charles Schumer, 73 who worked closely with McConnell, 81, on the deal, as each leader tried to advance funding for Ukraine and Israel.
‘It took a long time – four months of arduous negotiations. They fell off the tracks a whole bunch of times. I had to be on the phone, even at midnight,’ said Schumer, who had earlier predicted success following a White House meeting last month.
‘The majority of Republican senators know it’s the right thing to do. It’s a compromise. I don’t like everything in it – neither does McConnell. It’s a compromise. it’s the only way you get important things done in the Senate,’ he said, urging senators to ‘drown out the political noise from Trump and his minions and do the right thing for America … History is looking down on every one of us.’
In one sign of the volatility of the issues, Texas Senator John Cornyn, a longtime Schumer ally and former party whip, announced his own opposition Monday afternoon.
Also dogging it were Senators Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
The number of Republicans opposing the deal was approaching 20 on Monday afternoon, nearly halfway to the 41 it would take to filibuster the agreement.
‘The crisis has literally never been worse,’ Biden said on Monday, urging action. He said the ‘gaping hole’ in the nation’s borders ‘is not going to heal itself.’
‘This is a humanitarian and security crisis of historic proportions. And Senate Republicans have insisted not just for months but for years that this urgent crisis demanded action,’ he said.
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