U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) and his Republican colleagues forced a vote on the Border Safety and Security Act on Wednesday, a bill that would shut down the border until the Department of Homeland Security regains operational control. Democrats blocked the bill.
In a floor speech, Senator Tuberville claimed that he and his Republican colleagues have offered real solutions to fix the border crisis while charging that Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-New York) “bipartisan” border deal before the Senate is nothing but a messaging exercise to give vulnerable Democrat senators cover during an election year. Tuberville claimed that Sen. Schumer’s bill would cost taxpayers $20 billion and do absolutely nothing to secure the border.
“Three weeks ago, two illegal immigrants attempted to break into the Marine base at Quantico in Virginia,” said Tuberville in a speech on the Senate floor. “Both individuals are Jordanian nationals who were apprehended by Customs and Border Patrol Protection at the southern border and released into the United States. One of them is allegedly on the terrorist watch list.”
“Now, how did we get here? How did we get to the point where two people who entered the country illegally and were not screened or vetted tried to drive a truck onto a military base?” said Tuberville. “Let me say that again. These people are not being screened or vetted. We have no idea who these people are. But here’s what we do know about the people who have invaded our country. 25,000 Chinese nationals have entered our country since October 1, 2023. 184,000 Haitians have entered under Joe Biden’s mass parole program, along with 101,000 Venezuelans, 91,000 from Cuba, [and] 75,000 Nicaraguans. And this doesn’t count the 76,000 Afghans who came here after Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
“As I have repeatedly said, I have got no problem with legal immigration – nor do my Republican colleagues,” Tuberville continued. “America is the land of freedom and opportunity. If people wanna come here legally, we’ll welcome them. But we cannot – we cannot – have terrorists crossing our borders unverified – ask the FBI. Beyond the safety concerns, we simply cannot afford to support the 11 million illegal immigrants who have illegally crossed our borders in the past three and a half years. I don’t know if Joe Biden missed the memo, but folks, we are dead broke. Dead broke. Yet we’re shelling out hundreds of billions of dollars to support these 11 million illegal immigrants. And this does not count the millions of what we call got-aways who, obviously, if they can come across and not be apprehended, why in the world would they go somewhere and [turn themselves in to] the border patrol? It’s because they are criminals.”
Tuberville said that a recent report from the House Committee on Homeland Security estimated the southern border surge is costing the American taxpayers about $450 billion dollars a year. $42 billion of that is in direct welfare assistance.
“Why are Joe Biden and the globalist Democrats allowing this to happen?” Tuberville asked. “Why is this going on? It is simply because Democrats care more about keeping power than they do about safety and protecting the American taxpayer and American citizen. A New York congresswoman confirmed this. She says she welcomes illegal immigration because it helps with redistricting. The president and his progressive left Democrat Party know that the more people that they can get in this country, the longer they stay in power by increasing the population in the blue districts. Simple fact.”
“This bill, the Border Act of 2024, doesn’t even have the word “security” in the title,” said Tuberville. “That’s because this bill will only make the crisis at the southern border worse. It’s a border invasion bill. It’s not a border bill. It’s a border giveaway paid for by the American taxpayers – trillions of dollars. It also weakens the power of the president by suggesting the president close the border only when [Customs and Border Protection]has apprehended 4,000 illegal immigrants a day. Yeah, you heard that – a day. So, we’re gonna pass a bill that’s gonna allow 4,000 people to come here a day? That’s insane.?”
“The bill is just another public relations stunt from globalist democrats pretending to care about the border during an election year,” said Tuberville. “We need to get serious about national security created by open borders – serious. If we don’t believe that, we need to ask our allies over in Europe that have pretty much had their countries destroyed by immigration. The American people don’t want another messaging exercise. They want to feel safe in their neighborhoods.” “If Democrats are serious about securing the border, they will support the Border Safety and Security Act.”
Senator Tuberville helped introduce the Secure the Border Act of 2023, the Senate companion of the bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year, commonly known as H.R. 2. During his first three years in the United States Senate, Senator Tuberville has made multiple visits to the southern border and worked on many legislative initiatives to secure the border.
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