Sen. Sinema slams colleagues unwilling to consider border bill: This is devastating my state
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., defends the bipartisan border bill and calls out lawmakers for politicizing the migrant crisis as Americans suffer.
Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema joined "America's Newsroom" Wednesday to discuss how the border crisis is "devastating" her state, expressing her disappointment that the Senate will not consider a bipartisan bill to address the problem.
Sinema, who left the Democratic Party to become an independent in 2022, called out the Biden administration for not enforcing immigration laws.
"The Biden administration has not done a good job of implementing laws on the books," Sinema told hosts Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer, stressing that the legislation is needed to reform asylum rules and force the administration to close the border.
Sinema drafted the legislation with Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., to "change laws" to make it easier to enforce border security.
Sinema described the border crisis as a "national security issue" and said, "my state bears the brunt of this crisis every single day." She called out her Republican and Democratic colleagues for refusing to debate the legislation.
"Now, if the Senate were willing to get on the bill today, we could have an open amendment process, address concerns about the legislation and then pass it and go to a conference. But it seems unfortunate that many of my colleagues have chosen not to even debate the legislation."
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Sinema defended the bill by arguing that former President Trump wanted to make similar changes to asylum laws.
"We actually have to change the asylum policy standards to make it harder for people to actually get asylum. Right now, people who are economic migrants just claim asylum and get to come into the country. We need to change that law. And President Trump asked to change that law as well. But what our bill does that is different than we've seen in former laws, is we mandate, we require the administration to implement these policies, like the border closure. We don't just say, you can do it if you want to… we require the administration to [secure the border]."
Sinema said Monday on "Special Report" the bill is right to expand detention capabilities, given the estimated seven to 10-year Notice To Appear (NTA) timeframe for migrants ultimately released into the nation's interior.
Sinema said this crisis is real for her state. "I'm 100% focused on just getting this job done. And so while others have decided that border security is just a talking point for the election, I can promise you this, as someone who was born and raised near the border in Arizona, this is not a talking point for me."
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 06: U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) talks to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) talk during a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs subcommittee hearing on Title 42, at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on September 6, 2023 in Washington, DC. The subcommittee held the hearing to investigate Title 42 and its relation to asylum law enforcement and border security. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
As politicians continue to discuss the bill, Sinema called out her colleagues who put politics over her constituents.
"This is our daily life. And I am incredibly disappointed that people have chosen politics over the lives of the families, the farmers, the ranchers and folks living every day in southern Arizona."
Sinema, the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Management Chairwoman who crafted the bill with Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told Fox News the section of the bill most critiqued by Republicans – the triggering of emergency authority to prohibit migrant entry if average encounters surpass 4,000 or 5,000 per day – has been subject to mischaracterizations.
Sinema said the rapid removal authority described under the section targeted by House Republicans is intended as a backstop if the processing of illegal immigrants or asylum seekers becomes too much to handle under the increased detention capacity.
Several House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York, have been heavily critical of the law. Johnson has declared it "dead on arrival."
Former President Trump criticized the bill and added that any border bill should be standalone legislation and not tied to Ukraine aid or any other unrelated appropriation.
Fox News' Charles Creitz contributed to this report
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