(DailyVantage.com) – A number of Republicans in the Senate are taking issue with a deal the GOP leadership in the Upper House has struck with Democrats over the crisis at the border.
Among the most vocal of these GOP Senators is Mike Lee from Utah, who called the act of dealing with liberals to pass a bipartisan bill on border security a “disqualifying betrayal.” According to Lee and others who share his sentiments, the new bill is extremely insufficient to address what is turning out to be an unprecedented crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
As a whole, the new bill is essentially a $118 billion national security package that includes aid for both Israel and Ukraine. Among the border-specific provisions included are the expansion of President Joe Biden’s authority and toolbox to prevent and discourage illegal crossings at the border, increasing the deportation force of the government, as well as expedited hearings at immigration courts. The point of biggest contention, however, is the caveat in the law that says that the border-specific provisions can only be implemented if daily migrant crossings at the border hit at least 4,000.
“Senate GOP leadership screwed this up — and screwed us,” Lee said.
The bill was put forward after months of back-and-forth between liberal and conservative legislators, but Lee called it “terrible” as he also came out with a “dirty dozen” of what he feels are “disastrous” stipulations in the bill.
The battle is not over, though, as the bill still needs to be subjected to a procedural vote, which will require 60 votes for it to pass. House Republicans have said that they will take all measures to ensure that it will not receive a vote in Congress. According to Republican Louisiana Representative Steve Scalise, instead of securing the border, the new bill creates a “magnet for more illegal immigration” due to the large minimum number of daily migrant crossings required for the new security provisions to kick in.
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