On Tuesday’s edition of NBC’s “MTP Now,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) argued that Republicans are opposing the Senate bill that “Democrats certainly would never have written on their own” and that he is unsure if he’ll support because he’s “uncomfortable with many provisions in here that undermine kind of the basic tenants of the asylum [system] in a way that was unnecessary to do,” because there is an “open border mentality among the Republicans.”
Merkley said, “[T]he whole package that involved the Middle East and Ukraine and humanitarian aid, the Republicans said it has to have a border bill. And they put one of their most conservative members in charge of that, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), he worked incredibly hard with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) on our side and a few others. And so, it got delivered. They reached a deal, a deal that the Democrats certainly would never have written on their own. And, suddenly, here’s Trump, saying, oh, we don’t want a border deal, I want this to be an open sore, an open problem through November. So, we have this open border mentality among the Republicans.”
Later, he added, “I would work very hard to amend it and improve it if it came to the bill. But I do think that if we have bipartisan on this foundation of this border bill, I think that it’s important that we change the current dynamic on the border. … I’d work to amend it to a point I’d be comfortable supporting it. I’m uncomfortable with many provisions in here that undermine kind of the basic tenants of the asylum [system] in a way that was unnecessary to do, except that it’s a grand compromise with Republicans. Sometimes you have to lump a lot of pieces that you really think need to be improved, but first, as a Senator, I’d be committed to trying to improve them and then wrestling with what that final package looks like. But I do believe we have to act to change the current dynamic on the border.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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