House Republicans are trying to pass a bill for once, but some in the party still firmly oppose giving foreign aid without addressing the U.S. southern border. This is even after they refused to pass a bipartisan border bill and decided to defeat it at the request of former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) is one such House member who opposes the bill unless it includes “common sense border protection measures.” CNN anchor Jessica Dean talked to Malliotakis on CNN News Central on Thursday and challenged her about her stance.
Malliotakis: So what I would argue is that the president made 60 executive order policy changes when he came into office. He can use the same discretion to reverse some of those policies. Do you know that [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas] sent a memo to Customs and Border Protection agents telling them that if somebody is a convicted criminal, that that alone is not enough to deport him? That’s wrong.
Dean: But Congresswoman, I’m sorry to interrupt you, I just want to I just want to push the point there, though. But it is all happening. But at this moment in time, time is of the essence on these, the funding for these aid bills.
Malliotakis: But that is why —
Dean: And this stuff that has not gotten worked out in months.
Malliotakis: Yeah, but that is why I’m making the case that, you know, [Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)] and the president should be giving a little they see what’s happening to our country. Do they not see the drug cartels profiting billions of dollars by human trafficking and drug trafficking? Did they not see 100,000 Americans dying from fentanyl that’s coming over our border?
Dean: Well, they did try to pass that package in the Senate.
Malliotakis: Why will they not work with us?
Dean: Well, they did try to pass some —
Malliotakis: No, they did not, actually.
Dean: Well, because the former president told them to kill it. So I’m just saying–
Malliotakis: That’s not what happened.
Dean: It was vetted by [Sen. James Lankford (R-OK)]—
Malliotakis: First of all —
Dean: And [Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Chris Murphy (D-CT)], it was a bipartisan piece of legislation.
Malliotakis: And we have a bipartisan piece of legislation in the House as well. In fact, some of our border security bills have passed with bipartisan support, and Sen. Schumer refuses to take them up. In fact, Sen. Schumer did not pass this bipartisan bill that you mentioned in the Senate at all, or else we could have potentially had some real negotiation.
Watch the video above via CNN.
