I’ve been listening to all the talk about the proposed Senate immigration bill. Because I view so much of the news as little more than propaganda, I have to point out that there is also a House immigration bill, HR2, that is being completely ignored. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2. The HR2 would mandate building the wall, put in E-Verify, authorize hiring more Border Patrol Agents, reauthorizes Operation Stonegarden (where local police departments are given money so that they help patrol the border, especially useful in very rural areas). Importantly it would cut funds to the alien smuggling NGOs “(Sec. 115) This section prohibits DHS from (1) processing the entry of non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) arriving in between ports of entry; (2) providing funds to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that facilitate or encourage unlawful activity; or (3) providing funds to NGOs that provide certain services, such as lodging or immigration legal services, to inadmissible non-U.S. nationals who enter the United States.”
If you want border security, HR2 is totally the way to go. However, in the meantime, the bill that’s capturing all the headlines is this terrible Senate bill. Senators like Mitch McConnell are blaming the failure of the terrible bill on Trump…which is sort of preposterous. Trump isn’t even in office and Trump did point out that you don’t need to pass a bill. You just need to enforce the laws on the books. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB-DJ7xzAJ4.
Senator James Lankford worked with Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Thune (R-SD), and with Chris Murphy (D-CT) on the bill. I believe Kristen Sinema was also involved. Lankford is claiming that his bill would not actually release 5,000 illegal aliens into the United States per day. Is he telling the truth? Because a lot of other news outlets are reporting it as true that he would release a certain amount of illegal aliens per day. Like McConnell, Lankford is blaming Trump indirectly for the failure of his scheme. https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2024/01/28/lankford-gop-killing-border-deal-because-its-a-presidential-election-year/.
Lankford’s home state no longer has confidence in him. His own home state Republicans in Oklahoma have ended support for him.
So, I did what I often do when trying to find out about an elected officials positions and I went over to NumbersUSA to see what it had to say about Lankford’s record on immigration. https://grades.numbersusa.com/gradecard/10752/118/. To my surprise, it gave him an A+ rating for the current Congress and a career record of B. I was deeply skeptical of this. Fortunately, NumbersUSA gives a breakdown of how they come to that conclusion and I have to say, the man does NOT deserve an A+ rating. For the categories of Reduce Chain Migration, Reduce Visa Lottery, Reduce Unnecessary Worker Visas, End Birth Right Citizenship, and Leadership he was rated “No Action” on each of these issues.
There are four categories he was good on, but out of 10 possible categories, that’s pretty dismal. Personally, I believe that ending birthright citizenship should be a litmus test for all conservatives. I’m pretty sure the writers of the 14th amendment did not envision a woman waltzing across the border to give birth at US taxpayer expense at the El Paso hospital and then going on welfare. Hate Russia? Why are we letting Russians do this? https://apnews.com/general-news-travel-161a0db2666044dc8d42932edd9b9ce6. Why are we letting wealthy Mexicans game the system? The Mexican governor of Baja California has given birth twice in the United States to get U.S. citizenship for her kids.
In my book “East Into The Sunset”, I detailed how wealthy Mexicans would come to Mission, Texas to give birth at the local hospital. Because they had no income in the United States, they qualified for government programs like SNAP, and WIC. They would either have their benefits sent to them in Mexico, or, get a post office box to pick them up. Lankford has somehow or other managed to avoid the issue of birth right citizenship altogether.
If Lankford wants to regain conservative trust, he should stop wasting his time on the Senate distraction, start supporting the impeachment of Mayorkas, and support House Bill HR2.
20 year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol. Author of "East into the Sunset: Memories of patrolling in the Rio Grande Valley at the turn of the century".
Master's Degree in Justice, Law and Society from American University.
Grew up partly in Europe.
