The newly released bill has drawn the ire of conservatives in both chambers of Congress
Former President Trump responded to the recently unveiled Senate immigration bill by describing it as “horrendous” and a “gift to Democrats.” He advocated for handling immigration and foreign aid through separate pieces of legislation.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday morning. “This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats and a Death Wish for The Republican Party. 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!!!”
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Trump continued, stating, “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. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
In a subsequent post, Trump characterized the bill as a “highly sophisticated trap.”
“The ridiculous ‘Border’ Bill is 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,” Trump wrote. “Don’t fall for it!!!”
The much-anticipated unveiling of the Senate immigration bill on Sunday night triggered criticism from conservatives, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. He labeled the bipartisan $118 billion border security and foreign aid package as “even worse than we expected” and predicted it would be “dead on arrival” in the lower chamber.
Republicans have taken issue with a provision of the bill that states the border will be shut down only when 5,000 illegal immigrants a day cross the border as well as the billions of dollars of spending attached that goes to Ukraine and Israel.
The bill text introduces a new “border emergency authority” to deny entry to individuals, which can be invoked if the average number of encountered migrants reaches 4,000 per day over seven days. The authority becomes mandatory if the number reaches 5,000.
These powers can be exercised for up to 270 days in the initial year of implementation, a duration that gradually diminishes before the authority expires within three years.
“Let me be clear: The Senate Border Bill will NOT receive a vote in the House,” House Majority Leader Scalise wrote. “Here’s what the people pushing this ‘deal’ aren’t telling you: It accepts 5,000 illegal immigrants a day and gives automatic work permits to asylum recipients — a magnet for more illegal immigration.”
Members of the House Freedom Caucus encouraged their conservative counterparts in the Senate to reject the recently revealed border security compromise, arguing that it does not sufficiently address the migrant crisis.
“It’s clear why Democrats waited until the last minute to drop this dumpster fire of a bill; it’s far worse than we could have expected,” former Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital on Sunday night after the legislation was released. “The Senate must reject this American sellout.”
Oklahoma GOP Sen. James Lankford, a sponsor of the bill, defended the legislation in a Fox News appearance on Monday morning.
“This authority is a 5,000 authority to say if you get to 5,000, which we’ve been there every single day except for 7 in the last 4 months, that it completely closes the border down, it deports everyone,” Lankford said. “It changes the paradigm from right now what the Biden administration is doing catching and releasing everyone to catching and deporting everyone.”
“It literally flips the script on it.”
“The key aspect of this, again, is are we, as Republicans, going to have press conferences and complain the borders bad and then intentionally leave it open after the worst month in American history in December?” Lankford added. “Now we’ve got to determine, are we going to just complain about things? Are we going to address and change as many things as we can if we have the shot?”
Fox News Digital reached out to Sen. Lankford’s office regarding Trump’s social media post but did not immediately receive a response.