Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis referred to the newly introduced bipartisan Senate border bill as a "farce."
The bipartisan bill was negotiated by Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, a Republican, Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema, an Independent, and Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat. The proposed legislation notably activates border emergency authority if "an average of 5,000 or more" illegal border crossings happen in a seven-day period, or if a combined total of 8,500 border crossings are observed on any one calendar day.
DeSantis lamented the border bill during a Monday press conference.
“We have a huge issue in this country on our southern border. You can’t be a country if you don’t maintain control of your own territory,” DeSantis said. “And yet, this has been going on really for many, many years, decades, perhaps, but it’s never been this bad. And they have now unveiled a piece of legislation in Washington, and I think people are starting to point out what a farce it is, to basically say that you only shut the border down once 5,000 people a day come illegally, which is about 2 million a year.
The Florida governor said the proposed legislation is "basically legalizing illegal immigration."
"There’s so many other things that are wrong with it," DeSantis continued. "It just shows me the contempt that these people in D.C. have for American taxpayers.”
Funds allocated for the bill will be used to "facilitate more of the problem," according to DeSantis.
"The fact of the matter is the president has the authority to secure the country’s border," he continued. "You don’t need a new piece of legislation to do that. Just do it, and if you did it, I think a lot of people would be pleasantly surprised that you did it."
DeSantis said the bill was "just another dog and pony show out of Washington."
"It will not solve a problem. It will just exacerbate the problem even further," DeSantis said. "I don’t think it likely has much of a chance. But you never know with the folks that we’ve got in Washington, D.C., nowadays.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly encouraged Republican colleagues to oppose the bill in the upcoming Wednesday vote. House Republican leadership also released a statement declaring the bill "DEAD on arrival" if passed by the Senate.
