Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley called on Republicans Monday to hammer out legislation to address the border crisis after many GOP members of Congress bashed a bipartisan border deal released the night before.
Negotiators released the text of the legislation, which provides $60 billion in aid to Ukraine and $14 billion to Israel, Sunday evening after weeks of talks between Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut. House Republicans indicated the bill was dead on arrival shortly after its release.
“They need to figure this out,” Haley told Fox News host Neil Cavuto. “They need to adjust it, amend it in any way that they can. And they should not leave D.C. until they get us a border bill. And no, we are not waiting until the general election to do this.”
Read: Senate Border Bill Gives $204 Million For Backlogged FBI DNA Testing For Migrant Crimes
Haley said the border crisis is endangering national security.
“America is acting like it’s September 10th, and we better remember what September 12th felt like, because it only takes one person across that border to create a 9/11 moment,” Haley added. “We need this fix now. We need congressional members to stay in D.C. and not leave until they figure this out.”
Former President Donald Trump came out in opposition to the bill Monday via posts on Truth Social.
“This Bill is a great gift to Democrats, and a death wish for the Republican Party,” Trump posted on Truth Social Monday morning. “It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans. Don’t be STUPID!!!”
“The ridiculous ‘Border’ Bill is nothing more than a highly sophisticated trap for Republicans to assume the blame on what the Radical Left Democrats have done to our Border, just in time for our most important EVER Election,” Trump added in a second post. “Don’t fall for it!!!”
Read: Florida Sen. Rick Scott Blasts Border Deal, Calling It “Surrender”
Haley took aim at Trump, saying he opposed the bill to improve his chances at winning the November election.
“It’s irresponsible to say that Congress has to wait until a general election, because Trump is worried that he’s going to lose,” Haley added. “There’s a lot of reasons we got to worry Trump’s going to lose, but you don’t sacrifice national security to do it.”
While Haley called for Congress to pass some version of a border security package, she took issue with specific sections of the current bill. “The part that I don’t like about the bill doesn’t require Remain in Mexico, which is very important in keeping them from coming on U.S. soil in the first place, and I don’t like the 5,000 limit,” Haley said. “We don’t want anybody to come.”
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