With the U.S. Senate still ironing out the details of a new national security spending bill, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) has condemned Democrat efforts to tie funding for border security to sending $100 billion more to Ukraine.
Tuberville has long been calling for the Biden administration to enforce the laws already in place to close the border instead of using the issue for political gain.
"They've basically tricked us into a situation where they said, 'Let's see if the Republicans will bite on this," Tuberville said Monday to Fox Business News' Larry Kudlow. "They already got the laws there to stop them at the border. They're not going to go by them anyway. For three years, Larry, they've just let people invade this country. It's just a shame what's going on. It's really criminal, to be honest with you."
The relevant portion begins around the 5:10 mark.
Among other things, the bipartisan bill would allow 5,000 illegal entries per day, or 1.8 million annually, and expedite work permits for illegal aliens released from federal custody, Fox Business reported. It would also give more funding to Israel and Taiwan, according to ABC News.
Tuberville said the bill has no chance of passing in the House even if it makes it out of the Senate.
"It's extortion. They're holding the American taxpayer hostage for $100 billion to send to Ukraine, hostage if we will do a border deal," he said. "That makes no sense to me. Why would we even think about that?
Tuberville said President Joe Biden could shut down the border at any time if he wanted to rather than wait for a bill to pass.
"He will not do it because they want votes," Tuberville said.
He said the problem of illegal immigration is spreading to the northern border and in airports across the country, where criminal immigrants fly in using false IDs.
"When you're not strong on something, when they know there's no ramifications for what's going to happen, hey, they're going to come," he said.
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