Washington, DC — Throughout the week, we’ve been highlighting how Republicans view immigration and the border as a political issue to run on, rather than a policy issue to be resolved.
But don’t believe us. Just listen to Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), who yesterday just came right out and said the quiet part out loud to CNN:
“‘Let me tell you, I’m not willing to do too damn much right now to help a Democrat and to help Joe Biden’s approval rating,’ Rep. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, told CNN. ‘I will not help the Democrats try to improve this man’s dismal approval ratings. I’m not going to do it.’”
It was a rare moment of truth. While no other Republican was quite as overt in detailing their underlying political motivations, Rep. Nehls was far from alone in signaling the GOP isn’t motivated to enact serious policy that advances solutions on immigration and the border. Among the extreme Republican policy ideas vocalized yesterday included calls to seal off ports of entry; pledges to shut down the government unless the borders are closed; a mass-deportation vision espoused by Donald Trump in an Iowa op-ed; and multiple calls for HR2 or bust – passing into law the partisan House bill passed earlier this year – which is a total non-starter with the Senate and White House. Note that as former ICE Chief of Staff Jason Houser writes in an op-ed in The Hill, these ideas are not just cruel and extreme, but would be “a human trafficker’s dream” fueling the cartels who profit from U.S. border policies.
The following is a statement from Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“In a rare moment of truth, Rep. Troy Nehls admitted it is all about politics and that Republicans aren’t going to lift a finger to try and deliver needed funding and solutions on immigration and border policy. Unfortunately, their political motivations are holding hostage aid to Ukraine and needed resources to help our country address 21st century migration. But at least they’re now admitting what’s been obvious for a while – they are motivated by politics, not solutions.
On immigration and border policy, Republicans are throwing the equivalent of spaghetti against the wall, with the only commonalities being the extreme and unworkable nature of their ideas and their underlying motivations being about hammering a political message about immigrants and the border instead of getting policy enacted or seeking real solutions.”
