Mike Johnson Blasts Senate Border Deal: 'Incentivizes Illegal Immigration'

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has reiterated that the Senate’s bipartisan border security bill is “dead on arrival” in the House, while claiming that the legislation would “incentivize illegal immigration.”

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said during a Monday night interview on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle that he had read over the bill and reaffirmed his position that he would not allow it to be considered in the House.

Before details of the $118 billion bill were revealed on Sunday, Johnson previously announced that he would block the bill in the House. During his interview on Monday, the speaker told host Laura Ingraham that House Republicans had concluded there was “no way” it would be considered.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is pictured on Friday during a Fox News interview in New York City. Johnson said on Monday that the Senate’s bipartisan border security deal would “further incentivize illegal immigration.”…

Roy Rochlin

“It did not take long to realize that this is dead on arrival,” Johnson said. “There’s no way we could bring this through the House. The Senate expects us to pass a bill, a piece of legislation that you just did a great job of dismantling here. What it would do is actually further incentivize illegal immigration.”

“It would not resolve any of the problems, not reform in any meaningful way the broken asylum system, the broken parole process and all the things that have created this catastrophe,” he added. “The bill itself would actually do more harm than good. And that’s why we’ve said it’s a non-starter over here in the House.”

Johnson also said that the bill “further empowers” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who he claimed “designed and created this mess.” The speaker did not provide any further details on how exactly the bill “incentivizes illegal immigration.”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates sent Newsweek a memo via email, arguing that Johnson ignored “urgently-needed benefits the bipartisan border security deal would realize for our national security and the American people” during his Fox appearance.

“Suddenly, Speaker Johnson is tying himself in knots manufacturing excuses to oppose all of those benefits,” Bates wrote in the memo. “This is a moment of truth for House Republicans.”

“After opposing the record border security funding Joe Biden has signed into law every year of his presidency, will the House GOP finally say ‘yes’ to securing our border and putting the needs of families above partisan games?” he added.

Newsweek reached out for comment to Johnson’s office via email late Monday night.

Some Republicans have slammed the bill over a provision that instructs Mayorkas to trigger mandatory deportations if an average of 5,000 or more illegal migrants are encountered along the border per day, claiming that the plan would allow 1.8 million illegal border crossings per year.

Republican Senator James Lankford, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, called the claims “absurd” during a Fox News interview earlier on Monday, while arguing that the legislation would have instead resulted in 1 million fewer illegal migrants if it were already in place.

Democrats and others have criticized Johnson over his opposition to the bill by claiming that he’s unwilling to consider the legislation due to his motivation to boost former President Donald Trump’s chances in the November presidential election.

Trump previously demanded that Republicans block any immigration deal that falls short of “perfect,” a stance that some have suggested is intended to worsen the migrant crisis at the political expense of President Joe Biden.

An editorial published by Johnson’s hometown newspaper The Advocate on Monday accuses the speaker of “flip-flopping” his position to benefit Trump. Johnson rejected suggestions that Trump was “calling the shots” during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.

Update 2/6/24, 3:41 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates.