TL/DR –
Several Republican Arizona Representatives and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake are opposing a bipartisan border security bill, reportedly following former President Donald Trump’s lead. Critics of the bill, including Lake, have falsely claimed that the legislation would allow 5,000 illegal immigrants into the U.S. each day. The bill’s sponsors have been attempting to correct these misconceptions, with one senator clarifying that the bill is designed to close the border and turn 5,000 people around.
Bipartisan Border Security Legislation Faces Opposition from Trump Supporters
Republican Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Eli Crane, and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, known for their unwavering support of Donald Trump, oppose the bipartisan border security legislation developed by Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
Biggs has echoed Trump’s criticism of the late-Sen. John McCain, calling the new bill “worse than the old Gang of Eight legislation”, a 2013 bipartisan immigration bill co-authored by McCain.
Sinema and her co-authors were likely aware that Trump and his supporters would oppose their legislation. Trump has built his presidential campaign around the idea of a border crisis and the notion that Republicans and Democrats are unable to solve it.
False Claims About the Border Security Legislation
Despite opposition, Sinema and her colleagues may not have anticipated the spread of misinformation about their bill. For instance, Lake claimed on Twitter that the proposed legislation allows 5,000 illegal immigrants into the US daily. However, this is untrue.
Such false claims are being propagated, especially by politicians who should be more responsible.
Addressing Misinformation
The bill’s sponsors have been trying to correct these misconceptions. Sen. Lankford, for example, clarified that the bill is not designed to let 5,000 people in, but to close the border and turn 5,000 people around.
Sen. Murphy referred to the false claim as “bad faith nonsense”.
Sinema also tried to set the record straight, stating on Twitter that the border closes automatically when migrant encounters reach 5,000, debunking the misconstrued notion of 5,000 daily migrant admissions.
Regardless of these clarifications, the efforts to strengthen border security may fail, not due to a false claim of 5,000 migrants per day, but rather because of the spread of over 5,000 lies daily.
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