Donald Trump Jr. warned on Monday about some Republican senators who he claims are trying to help Democrats by supporting amnesty for migrants as part of proposed legislation for the southern border.
Negotiations continue between the White House, Senate and House of Representatives on final bill text to address the growing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border when it comes to illegal immigration, with President Joe Biden reportedly pledging to use a new emergency authority within the framework of the supposed legislation to "shut down the border" if necessary. House Speaker Mike Johnson in a letter sent to his Republican colleagues on Friday, warned that a number of missing provisions would cause such a bill to be "dead on arrival in the House."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has recently taken heat for new comments that suggest that former president and current GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump wants to make immigration a central theme for his 2024 campaign—despite Republican legislators working to improve the situation at the border or to provide more foreign aid for Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia. McConnell reportedly told Senate Republicans that the GOP should not do anything to "undermine" their party's presumed nominee, adding, "The politics on this have changed."
"[Oklahoma Republican Senator James] Lankford, McConnell and [Utah Republican Senator Mitt] Romney are all full of s*** and doing the bidding of Dems by lying thru their teeth about this [legislation]," Trump Jr. wrote Monday on X, formerly Twitter. "They're trying to sneak a mass amnesty for illegals into this deal, which is why actual Republicans are opposing it. We wanted a secure border, not AMNESTY!!!!"
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Romney told Newsweek via email on Monday that the senator "is not a part of negotiations," adding that he has publicly made statements the past month about the need to stem the historic flood of illegal immigration. "We're waiting, like everyone else, to see what's in the bill."
In a separate X post on Monday, Trump Jr. wrote: "The Lankford-Dem Ukraine bailout/mass amnesty bill would green-light 2 million illegals flooding into our country per year. That's about twice the population of Dallas coming into America illegally every year. That's their supposedly 'strict' border policy bill. Give me a break!"
On Saturday, the Oklahoma Republican Party (OKGOP) censured Lankford for working with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, on "an open-border deal to allow 5,000 illegal immigrants a day to enter and work in the United States."
The resolution said that Lankford is "playing fast and loose with Democrats on our border policy not only disenfranchises legal immigrants seeking citizenship, but it also puts the safety and security of Americans in great danger."
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Lankford was asked by host Shannon Bream why he and others would give Biden an election year "victory lap." He said amnesty is not part of the drafting of the bill, instead saying that the legislation would purportedly increase the number of Border Patrol agents, increases asylum officers, and increases detention beds "so we can quickly detain and then deport individuals."
"Republicans four months ago would not give funding for Ukraine, for Israel and for our southern border because we demanded changes in policy," Lankford told Bream. "So, we actually locked arms together and said, 'We're not going to give you money for this. We want a change in law.'
"And now it's interesting, a few months later, when we're finally going to the end, they're like, 'Oh, just kidding. I actually don't want a change in law.'"
Newsweek reached out to Lankford and McConnell via email for comment.
Romney, who sits on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee responsible for border enforcement, told Newsweek earlier this month that parole has to be a big part of any legislation. Otherwise, he said, the Biden administration will continue letting thousands of migrants enter the country.
The senator also called Trump's communications with Republican legislators in the Senate and House, to allegedly not want to solve the border problem because it is politically helpful to his campaign, "really appalling."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would be required to shut down illegal crossings if the daily average of encounters surpasses 5,000 migrants, according to Politico, or if a one-day total surpasses 8,500 encounters. The supposed bill would also close the border for two weeks until migrant encounters do not surpass about 2,000, though asylum seekers could still go to ports of entry.
Update 01/29/24, 10:51 a.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Romney's office.
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Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
