President Biden criticized Republicans for blocking border security legislation in the Senate on Thursday, arguing that the GOP doesn’t care about securing the U.S. southern border.
“Republicans in Congress don’t care about securing the border or fixing America’s broken immigration system. If they did, they would have voted in favor of the toughest border enforcement in history. Instead, today, they put partisan politics ahead of our country’s national security,” he said in a statement.
Senators voted 43 to 50 to withdraw the proposal, in a widely expected result that marks the second time the legislation has been negotiated over the fall and winter by Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn. ) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) was blocked.
Biden, in his statement, noted that the bill would have hired more Border Patrol agents, immigration judges and asylum officers, as well as provided funding for technology to detect and stop fentanyl trafficking.
Biden added that Republicans, by voting against the bill, also “rejected a deal that would give me, as president, new emergency authority to temporarily close the border when the system is overwhelmed.”
He said he is “committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system.” Republicans have called on Biden to use his executive authority to resolve the border situation.
The White House earlier this week focused on fentanyl trafficking at the U.S. southern border to urge Republicans to vote for the bill, calling on lawmakers to choose saving lives over politics.
The White House also criticized Republicans for not passing the bipartisan border bill when it was first introduced, after former President Trump urged them to oppose it so the border would continue to be an important issue leading up to election day.
Biden spoke Monday with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to push for passage of the bill.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
