Over the past few days, Texas Republican U.S. representatives have blasted the recently-introduced Senate border deal.
According to page 212 of the measure, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security is only required to take immediate emergency action if an average of 5,000 or more illegal aliens are encountered at the border for seven consecutive days or 8,500 encounters on any one calendar day.
Texas Scorecard rounded up the reactions from the majority of Texas’ Republican U.S. representatives, who took to social media to express their outrage over the bill.
“I will NOT support the Senate/Mayorkas open border bargain. Democrats have COMPLETELY rewritten the rules at the border,” U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R–36) posted on X today. “Now’s not the time to codify their failures and make concessions – it’s time to SHUT DOWN the border and SAVE our country.”
U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud (R–27) noted the provisions to Ukraine that the border deal would also grant.
“Reading through the alleged ‘border security’ package just released. First section is about Ukraine,” he commented. “Tells you all you need to know about the absurd priorities underlining this bill.”
U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R–15) echoed the sentiment, posting, “I wish @SenateDems were as passionate about protecting our own borders as they are protecting Ukraine.”
U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon (R–4) posted simply that “We can never allow 5,000 border crossings per day to become the norm. The Senate’s border deal DOA [Dead on Arrival].”
“They want to give Mayorkas – who has utterly failed to maintain operational control of our southern border – direct authority to grant asylum,” he added. “That’s a no from me. Dead on arrival.”
“When the RINO/Chuck Schumer Immigration Bill hits the house floor, I will vote NO. The Bill is a NON-STARTER,” posted U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden (R–5).
He then targeted President Joe Biden’s open border policies as a whole, saying that he does not need any new laws. Instead, he should enforce the Trump-era policies that he reversed.
U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R–38) echoed Fallon’s criticisms of the bill being dead on arrival.
“An Administration that spent 3 years breaking federal immigration law has NO INTENTION of now enforcing it. The Senate Immigration Bill is DOA,” he posted on X Sunday.
“The Senate ‘deal’ is a NON-STARTER and a complete DISASTER!” posted U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R–13). “We can’t green light globalist nonsense that sends another $60 billion to Ukraine and allows another 2 million illegal immigrants to come to America a year. Insanity!”
U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R–22) made a series of X posts dissecting and criticizing various parts of the border deal.
“The Senate’s ‘border security’ deal is America LAST, plain and simple. It’s a 370-page document filled with policies that encourage the invasion of our country,” he began.
“This ‘deal’ allows 4,999 illegal aliens to cross the border each day. It would allow 1,824,635 in one year,” Nehls continued. Subsequent posts on the same thread broke down other parts of the legislation.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R–21) took a different approach to the deal by claiming that Democrats knew the measure was not going to go anywhere at all. Instead, it was created “purposefully to blame Republicans for the open borders they created by complaining that we won’t take 3 punches to the head instead of 6.”
U.S. Rep. Keith Self (R–3) called on the House on Monday to hold the line by opposing the legislation.
Similarly to other representatives who focused on the international implications of the legislation, U.S. Rep. Randy Weber (R–14) posted on X that “The Senate is going to try and shove another $60 billion for Ukraine down Americans’ throats because that is more important to them than securing our border.”
U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R–24) posted, “The so-called senate ‘border deal’ is a disgrace to Texas and communities across the country who are dealing with the consequences of the Biden border crisis. I am a HARD NO on this disastrous piece of legislation and once again call on the senate to take up HR2, a true border security package that will actually secure the border.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Roger Williams (R–25) asked the question, “When did we become a country that refuses to uphold law and order?”
“The idea of letting 5,000 people PER DAY illegally enter our nation is unbelievable. Even one illegal crossing is too many,” he continued.
Williams concluded by saying, “The Senate ‘border bill’ is a slap in the face to the American people.”
U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R–19) said on X today that “After 3 years of ignoring the crisis at the border and insisting we have ‘operational control,’ the White House now expects us to accept a border bill that allows for continued mass illegal migration and does not provide any necessary safety and security improvements for the American People.”
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R–23) posted, “It took the Senate months to build a bill. I GUARANTEE it will take the House months to review EVERY line.”
However, U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R–2) posted an X statement that seemed to criticize others’ reactions to the bill.
“Unfortunately there’s a lot of emotion about this border deal and no analysis of the facts by people who should know better,” Crenshaw stated. “Many people (who are apparently very fast readers!) have already tweeted completely false statements about the legislation. Gonna be a great week, lol!”
“As we examine the bill, we have to make sure it’ll actually work, even with Biden as President. And we have to make sure there aren’t side deals about amnesty, Dreamers, etc,” Crenshaw continued in the same thread.
“But I will not reactively be AGAINST something that (1) I haven’t examined closely and (2) actually decreases illegal immigration,” he finished.
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