Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee blasted congressional Democrats Wednesday for a “double standard” on border security.
“Of course there’s a double standard. And bear in mind, places like D.C., Chicago, New York City had said we are sanctuary cities, we welcome having individuals come into our state and our city. Tennessee is not a sanctuary state. Our cities and towns are not sanctuary cities and towns and they have said, ‘No, we want the border secure,’” Blackburn told “America Reports” hosts Sandra Smith and John Roberts. (RELATED: ‘Is That Fair?’: Dem Senator Spars With CNN Host After Claiming ‘Chaos’ At Border Is GOP’s Fault)
“This is what happens when you do not abide by the rule of law, when you do not secure your border, when you do not have a plan,” Blackburn continued. “And it is unseemly that in this $1.7 trillion spending bill they want to pass today, there is money for countries to secure their borders and have enhanced border security, but the money there for the Border Patrol, it says explicitly, you cannot use this on border security.”
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United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) received $1,563,143,000 for “operations and support” in the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill, but the legislation prohibits the use of those funds “to acquire, maintain, or extend border security technology and capabilities, except for technology and capabilities to improve Border Patrol processing.”
The prohibition comes after CBP encountered over 2.3 million migrants in Fiscal Year 2022, with another 230,000 in October, the first month of the new fiscal year, according to official figures, while another 600,000 migrants evaded CBP, Fox News reported.
In the same legislation, several foreign countries were provided $410 million for improving border security, with at least $150 million earmarked for the Kingdom of Jordan, Republican Rep. Dan Bishop of Georgia tweeted.
Democratic Sen. Pat Leahy of Vermont, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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