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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Republican Senator Ron Johnson is leading efforts to block a deal on border security, the Wisconsin congressman recently said, adding that voters should be the ones deciding on the issue.
Talking on Fox News's The Ingraham Angle on Thursday about a border security deal reportedly in the works between Senate Democrats and Republicans, Johnson, who's part of the Homeland Security Committee, said he's been "pretty well leading the efforts to slow this process down."
A bipartisan border security and immigration deal, which would unlock the stalled aid package for Ukraine blocked by House Republicans, has reportedly been the object of talks between the White House and key senators. In a joint statement issued by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell before the Senate went into recess for the holidays, the two said that negotiations "continue to make headway."
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But Johnson has been undermining the importance of such a bipartisan deal, saying that it's impossible to engage in honest talks with Democrats about the topic.
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"I've got 14 of my colleagues to sign a letter to Republican leadership to hold a conference meeting when we return on January 8," the Wisconsin senator told host Laura Ingraham. "That was really designed to make sure that they won't jam us this week to take a vote on a bill that nobody has seen," he added. "I think we were largely successful."
The letter, released on December 17, called for a meeting of the GOP conference to discuss the negotiations with President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats over border security instead of "conducting rushed and secret backroom negotiations."
"The problem we have is that we're negotiating with an administration and Democrats in the Senate who want an open border," he concluded. Johnson took credit for the Senate going into recess without voting on any border security measures.
He then claimed that the border was "largely secured" before Biden came into office, blaming the Democratic president for what he called the current crisis. "President Biden said that these policies were inhumane and opened up the border," the Republican senator said, adding that migration was "completely out of control."
Newsweek contacted Johnson's press team for comment by email on Friday.
According to data shared by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the number of migrant encounters reported on the U.S.-Mexico border reached a record high this year, putting more pressure on Biden.
In October, the Migration Policy Institute reported there had been 2.5 million encounters of migrants at the border since the beginning of the year. The number of monthly encounters reported by the CBP dipped in June, following the end of Title 42 and the launch of a new set of enforcement policies, and then bounced back, rising consistently in the following months.
The Migration Policy Institute said migration patterns have changed in a way that requires an infusion of new resources into the system, as the U.S. faces a sharp increase in the arrivals of families and migrants who are not likely to be easily removed from the country.
Biden, who faces heightened pressure—especially from Republicans—to tackle the situation, introduced new legislation deterring illegal arrivals in May, including deporting people deemed unable to stay and banning their re-entry for five years. The Migration Policy Institute believes the deterrence is wearing off because border authorities do not have enough resources to impose consequences on illegal migrants.
The bipartisan border security deal has been said to focus on tougher asylum claims, allowing border authorities to more easily removed migrants who are found not to be allowed to stay; a bigger investment to improve border security than the $14 billion initially proposed by Biden; and a reform of the U.S. migration policies that would deter people from crossing illegally and instead encourage them to apply legally.
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