Dem Sen. Murphy: Republicans Blocking Immigration Reform to Blame for Border ‘Chaos’

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said Tuesday on CNN’s “Newsroom” that Republican unwillingness to back the Democrat immigration reform is causing “chaos” at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Anchor Jim Sciutto asked, “Another issue, and you’ve been watching events at the border with this open question as to whether Title 42 expires and when. I know that passing immigration reform in this country on Capitol Hill is just tough. There is a lot of opposition from Republicans, not a lot of political will from many Democrats, but Democrats have had majority in both chambers for two years. I know you need ten votes in the Senate, but do Democrats bear responsibility, some responsibility, for failing to enact reforms that would have helped address the situation at the southern border? I’m not saying all of the problems, but help address them?”

Murphy said, “Yeah, I think all 50 Democrats in the Senate support immigration reform, as you mentioned. The problem is we do not have enough Republicans to get it done. Senator Sinema, Democrat, or Independent now, and Senator Tillis, a Republican, unveiled a last-minute bipartisan proposal, and it was rejected by Republicans. So, right now, under the rules of the Senate, we need a handful of Republicans to support immigration reform, and they won’t. Now, the budget includes some money to manage these increased numbers at the border, but it is much less than what the administration needs. Why is that? Because not only do Republicans oppose immigration reform, they also are opposing the money necessary to deal with the emergency. So you’re going to see scenes of chaos at the border in January and February, and that is going to be in large part because Republicans aren’t allowing us enough funding to deal with these increased numbers.”

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