GOP Rep Tells CNN Host He Knows 'Well Done' Border Bill Would Have Been A 'Disaster'

Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett told CNN's Jim Acosta on Friday that the host knows “good and well” that a Senate border bill from February would have been disastrous if enacted.

The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act included additional funds to hire more immigration judges as well as to deal with foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally, but Republicans argued it would not significantly reduce illegal immigration. Acosta on “CNN Newsroom With Jim Acosta” characterized the bill as a “bipartisan effort to crack down on the border,” but Burchett said it was “a bad deal” and that the host understands it would not have been effective.

I WILL SEE:

'Jim, come on': GOP Rep tells CNN host he knows border project 'well and good' would have been a 'disaster' pic.twitter.com/krZ57lNo69

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 14, 2024

“This was a lawyer's bill,” Burchett said. “All that was said was when they get to the point of 5,000 people a day, Jim, now, 4,999 illegals a day is fine,” Burchett began before Acosta cut him off, asking, “But why not do something if you have a bipartisanship?

Burchett disputed that it was bipartisanwith Acosta noting that Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma was the GOP's lead negotiator for the invoice.

“He's a good guy, but you know good and well it was catch and release, and look what he would have done,” Burchett said. “He just employed more lawyers to allow illegals into the country and you know good and well that when they have a court date, two years early, that shit, they're not going back to court, Jim, come on.”

“This was a disaster waiting to happen and it was a terrible piece of legislation,” Burchett added. “I wouldn't have done anything but hire more lawyers and they just want to legalize that we're going to allow 5,000 illegals a day to cross the border and that's all this bill would have done.”

The bill included a provision that the border can remain open if fewer than 5,000 migrants enter per day. Authorities could remove undocumented migrants if the average number of crossings over a week exceeded that number.

Senate Republicans locked the bill in February as they did not believe it was designed to secure the border.

President Joe Biden recently discovered an immigration executive order after months of saying he could take no action to mitigate the border crisis. The executive action pauses new asylum applications when the number of migrants crossing into the United States reaches a daily average of 2,500 for a week.

There has been six million or more encounters on the southern border throughout the Biden presidency. The president faced off push back from both sides of the aisle after announcing the executive order.

The order does not appear to have affected the pace of illegal immigration so far, according to industry reports, internal data and local officials, the Daily Caller News Foundation. reported.

Latest messages from Jason Cohen (see everything)

We have zero tolerance for comments that contain violence, racism, profanity, profanity, doxing, or rude behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it, click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for engaging with us in a fruitful conversation.