GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Republicans will “shut down” the Senate if he and other senators are denied access to a border patrol facility along the U.S.-Mexico border Friday (March 26).
“I’m going to the border on Friday with 18 senators, and if I’m denied access to any place I want to go, we’re going to shut down the Senate.” In an interview with Fox News, Graham said, “Where are all the liberal hypocrites, where’s AOC? Where is Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)? Where’s Vice President Hejlin?”
AOC refers to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Graham is the senior Republican member of the Senate. He added in the Fox interview, “All I can say is that I went to the border with 18 senators, and if they refuse to let me go where I want to go and refuse to let me see what I want to see, we will shut down the Senate.”
Since taking office, the Biden administration has taken some notable actions to undo the Trump (Trump) era crackdown on illegal immigration, including revoking the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP) that keeps illegal immigrants in Mexico and limiting the priority of deporting illegal immigrants, while halting construction of the border wall. Biden also pledged to legalize 11 million illegal immigrants.
In addition, the Biden Administration has reinstated catch-and-release, the practice of releasing captured illegal immigrants into the United States, which has resulted in the release of some illegal immigrants who have been tested for the Chinese Communist virus (coronavirus).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced March 10 that more than 100,000 (100,441) illegal aliens were apprehended at the border in February alone. The increase in children at the border prompted Biden to dispatch the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist in the transfer of these children from border care facilities to safe homes.
Republicans pressured the Biden administration to allow greater media access to border shelters.
The two parties have blamed each other for the current border crisis. Republican lawmakers have denounced Biden’s policies as encouraging illegal immigration to the United States. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Wednesday that the border crisis is the result of Biden’s campaign rhetoric and the new administration’s border policies.
But House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has previously said the blame for the border crisis lies with former President Trump.
This is a humanitarian challenge for all of us,” Pelosi said in a March 14 interview on ABC News’ “This Week. What the (Biden) administration inherited (from the former Trump Administration) was a broken border system, and they (the Biden administration) are trying to correct that.” Pelosi said.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Texas) countered that Pelosi’s answer “doesn’t come even close to expressing rational thought. What they inherited is a border that was closed. We’re building a border wall to keep out all immigrants who don’t have the right to cross into the United States,” he said.
“But Biden’s border crisis was caused by Biden’s campaign promises of Amnesty (for illegal immigrants), open borders, and free health care for illegal immigrants. That’s why border crossings have been increasing every month since the election.”
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