Rep. Dan Crenshaw criticized his Republican colleagues for opposing a Senate deal on border and migration policy changes paired with Ukraine aid without having seen the bill.
He expressed disappointment in the maneuvering to derail potential border reform and emphasized the need to fulfill promises made to voters.
Crenshaw highlighted disputes over executive emergency border shutdown powers and suggested that some Republicans may be opposing the bill for political reasons.
“The height of stupidity is having a strong opinion on something you know nothing about,” Crenshaw said.
“So, I don’t have a strong opinion on the bill because I haven’t seen it. Nobody has.”
“I’m extremely disappointed in the very strange maneuvering by many on the right to torpedo a potential border reform bill. That’s what we all ran on doing,” Crenshaw said. “If we have a bill that, on net, significantly decreases illegal immigration, and we sabotage that, that is inconsistent with what we told our voters we would do.”
“It would be a pretty unacceptable dereliction of your duty,” he said.
“There are some in the Senate and in the House who are desperately trying to sabotage it for other reasons. Maybe they think that securing the border would help [President] Biden politically. Which, of course it would, but I want to secure the border. That’s what I told my voters I would do,” Crenshaw said.
He also addressed former President Trump’s influence on the border talks, urging against drama and emphasizing the need for a fair assessment of the bill.
“Stop instigating against border security,” Crenshaw said. “If the bill sucks, the bill sucks. But we don’t know if the bill sucks.”