Amid continuing discussions in Congress about the possibilities of enacting a new legislative deal on border security, there’s new nonsense from Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), who has actually been involved in negotiations.
“All of the 9/11 attackers were present in the US illegally. We shouldn’t wait until the next horrific terror attack to realize that our wide-open southern border is a national security risk,” a post on X (formerly Twitter) from Lankford confidently asserted on Friday. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick with the American Immigration Council was among those to correct the Senator.
“As others have already put out, this is literally false. All the hijackers entered the country legally on visas. While some had later become undocumented by overstaying their visas, nearly half were still lawfully present on a nonimmigrant visa at the time of the attack,” the immigration-focused lawyer summarized in reply.
It was unclear what progress the anticipated deal on immigration would actually see, with continued opposition to even basic possibilities of action from House Republicans. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has rejected even the $14 billion that the Biden admin sought that if enacted would expand border teams’ hiring and efforts to stop the dangerous drug fentanyl.
Rep. Nanette D. Barragán wondered in a recent discussion on MSNBC how Republicans could move forward with potentially impeaching Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for supposed border failures while also rebuffing the substantive progress on the border that Mayorkas and the president have sought.
“Let’s remember, Republicans have said no to what? Thousands of Border Patrol agents, money at the southern border,” Barragán said. “Mayorkas is asking for this money along with the president, and Republicans have said no. How do you impeach a Cabinet Secretary who is asking you for resources to address the southern border, and you are saying no because you want a political campaign issue?”
