U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, in a speech on the House floor Monday evening in which she said “immigration in a nation of immigrants is broken,” chastised Speaker of the House Mike Johnson for “doing a 180” on the border security compromise negotiated in the Senate because “former President Trump told him to.”
The deal, announced on Sunday, faces a difficult Senate vote amid declarations by House GOP leadership that it is dead on arrival.
“No sooner was it out is it now sailing down a river like a dumpster fire, being trashed by the very people who negotiated it, being trashed by very people who asked for it, being trashed by the Speaker of the House who desperately said ‘I won’t consider any future assistance without border security,'” Slotkin said.
“Just two months after the Speaker laid out this existential problem with border security, where he said ‘What is happening at the border is nothing short of a catastrophe,’ and demanded immediate changes to the administration policy and to our laws, he has now reversed course. …Why? Because former President Donald Trump told him to.”
You can hear her entire remarks below:
In October, Slotkin cosponsored comprehensive, bipartisan immigration legislation, the Dignity Act, which has the support of 21 Democrats and 8 Republicans and aims to stop illegal immigration, address undocumented immigrants living in the United States, strengthen the American workforce and economy, and strengthen future economic competitiveness.
She also reintroduced a suite of bipartisan legislation aimed at addressing border security and immigration and announced her co-sponsorship of two pieces of comprehensive reform legislation. She previously introduced the INTEL at Our Borders Act in both the 116th and 117th Congresses and previously introduced the Emergency Migration Response Act and Border Security and Migrant Safety Act in the 117th Congress.
In her time in Congress, Slotkin has also visited the northern and southern borders to see firsthand the issues with enforcement and processing, and called out the need to alleviate strain on border personnel and infrastructure. She has also publicly admonished both parties for the years of inaction on reforming our border security and immigration systems.
