Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), who is increasingly gaining notoriety as a voice for what’s left of the neocon movement, is calling on his party to not immediately shoot down a border and migration deal being worked out in the Senate.
Contrary to the sentiment of some of his GOP colleagues who have expressed misgivings about the legislation, Crenshaw said of the deal: “The height of stupidity is having a strong opinion on something you know nothing about. So, I don’t have a strong opinion on the bill because I haven’t seen it. Nobody has.”
As The Hill reports, this is in contrast to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who warned that the bill, which would link border policy changes to Ukraine aid, would be “dead on arrival” in the House if reports about its contents are true.
Crenshaw seemingly defended the deal, arguing that it would be a “dereliction of duty” to say “no” to the legislation if it indeed reduces illegal migration.
“I’m extremely disappointed in the very strange maneuvering by many on the right to torpedo a potential border reform bill. That’s what we all ran on doing,” the Texas Republican said. “If we have a bill that, on net, significantly decreases illegal immigration, and we sabotage that, that is inconsistent with what we told our voters we would do.”
The Hill further reported:
One point of contention between Republican critics and the deal’s defenders is over new executive emergency border shutdown powers that would kick in after 5,000 crossings per day. Johnson said this week that the authority should be utilized at zero crossings per day.
Some conservatives have argued that the provision greenlights 5,000 illegal crossings per day, but Sen. James Lankford (Okla.), one of the Republican negotiators on the deal, said that is “misinformation.”
Crenshaw also accused the deal’s Republican detractors of doing so because they fear Joe Biden will score political points by simultaneously delivering reduced illegal migration for Republicans and Ukraine aid for Democrats.
“There are some in the Senate and in the House who are desperately trying to sabotage it for other reasons. Maybe they think that securing the border would help [President] Biden politically. Which, of course it would, but I want to secure the border. That’s what I told my voters I would do,” argued the congressman.
Crenshaw’s accusation could very well apply to Donald Trump, who is among the leading voices opposing the deal. Last month, the 45th president said on Truth Social that “a bad border deal is far worse than no border deal,” and that any Senate deal should be rejected “unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions & Millions of people.”
When Crenshaw was asked about Trump’s remarks, however, he deflected, telling the reporter who asked the question to not “create some kind of drama here.”
“Stop instigating against border security,” the congressman added. “If the bill sucks, the bill sucks. But we don’t know if the bill sucks.”
When it comes to the possibility of a border deal, Mr. Crenshaw has once again found himself on the wrong side. The promise of a “deal” is a trap for conservatives that would give the Left what they want while delivering little of substance to conservatives.
First, the reported 5,000 limit, if it is an accurate reflection of what’s really in the legislation, is preposterous. Speaker Johnson is correct in saying that the correct limit is “zero.” Given the magnitude of the border crisis and the length of time it has continued up to this point, the border warrants being shut down immediately and indefinitely — not being allowed to remain open to illegal migrants so long as the number is below 5,000 per day.
Furthermore, the entire notion that some kind of legislative border-migration deal must be reached in order to solve the crisis is false and is, ultimately, nothing more than a dangled carrot intended to trick Republicans into giving in on Democrats’ highly coveted Ukraine aid.
The fact is that no legislative solution is necessary at all. Federal law explicitly prohibits the entry of illegal aliens and empowers the federal government with the means to stop them and deport them.
The Biden administration is failing to comply with its duty, under the Constitution and federal law, not because of a lack of some legislative deal, but because it deliberately is choosing not to. If Biden truly wanted to secure the border, he could, without waiting for any new law, order it shut down at this very moment and order the immediate return of all detained illegal aliens.
But he is letting the border crossings continue because Democrats want these migrants in the country, knowing this benefits them politically.
These realities, however, appear lost on Crenshaw. Of course, this is the politician who also wants to invade Mexico in order to deal with the fentanyl crisis, so favoring extravagant-but-subversive measures instead of the commonsense solution is perfectly in keeping with his character.
Click here to learn more about the border crisis and what should be done about it.
