President Biden on Thursday slammed Republicans for blocking a border security bill in the Senate, claiming that Republicans are not interested in securing the U.S. southern border.
“Republicans don’t care about securing our borders or fixing America’s broken immigration system. If they cared, they would have voted for the toughest border security in history. But today, they don’t care about securing our borders or fixing America’s broken immigration system. “We are prioritizing partisan politics over national security,” he said in a statement.
Senators voted 43-50 to withdraw the proposal, an outcome that had been widely expected. This is the second time the bill has been negotiated over the fall and winter by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). And Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona) is blocked.
Biden said in a statement that the bill would provide additional Border Patrol agents, immigration judges and asylum officers, and provide funding for technology to detect and stop fentanyl trafficking.
Biden added that by voting against the bill, Republicans “also rejected an agreement that would have given me, as president, new emergency powers to temporarily close the border if the system becomes overwhelmed.”
He said he was “committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system.” Republicans are calling on Biden to use the president’s executive authority to resolve the situation at the border.
The White House earlier this week urged Republican lawmakers to support the bill, focusing on fentanyl trafficking at the U.S. southern border and urged lawmakers to choose saving lives over politics.
The White House also criticized Republicans for not passing a bipartisan border bill when it was first announced, after former President Trump urged Republicans to oppose the border to keep it a key issue until Election Day. ing.
Biden met with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday to urge passage of the bill.
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