State Of The Union Riles Daines: Tester and Daines Both Urge President to Address Southern Border Crisis
They have worked their entire Senate careers to secure America's borders
By Denise Rivette
Yesterday, Montana’s U.S. Senator Steve Daines delivered remarks at the weekly Republican Senate Leadership press conference slamming President Joe Biden’s skewed priorities during his State of the Union address.
Watch Daines’ remarks HERE.
“President Biden made his priorities clear last Thursday during the State of the Union, and they don't line up with the American people's priorities. Seventy-eight percent of the American people consider the wide-open southern border a crisis.”
“So, before the President even got to the number one issue that the American people are most concerned about, Biden yelled about the size of a Snickers bar and how many chips are in a bag. We heard about Snickers and chips in a bag, and it was 40 minutes into his speech before he finally started talking about the number one issue the American people care about and that's the wide-open southern border.”
Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester have both worked on border issues since swearing into the Senate: Tester’s Improving America's Security Act of 2007 was signed into law his first year as senator, and Daines helped push through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in 2015 during his freshman year, providing $75 million for the Southern Border Security Initiative.
Tester’s Most Recent Efforts
Most recently, on February 29, as President Biden was visiting the southern border, Senator Jon Tester sent a letter to Biden stating, “I respectfully urge you to use all of the remaining tools at your disposal to strengthen border security where executive action is possible.”
Tester made it clear to President Biden that he hears from Montanans regularly who tell him they want to see a secure border and a solution to the fentanyl crisis: “Montanans from every corner of my state tell me that they want a secure border and a solution to the fentanyl crisis. I regularly meet with law enforcement officers, community leaders, and families that all highlight the devastation wrought by drug trafficking and illegal entries across the southern border. Earlier this month, a news report ran stating that Mexican drug cartels are targeting Montana, particularly taking advantage of the sparsely populated parts of the state, including Tribal reservations. This cannot be tolerated and Montanans expect everyone to do what they can to crack down on this growing problem.”
Tester also criticized D.C. politicians who blocked bipartisan border security legislation for political reasons: “Congress had an opportunity to address this dire situation in February but ultimately failed due to election year politics…This bill was endorsed by and received strong praise from the National Border Patrol Council, which represents thousands of Border Patrol agents and personnel charged with enforcing our country’s border security policies. The Director of Customs and Border Protection stated that would it ‘would provide the strongest set of tools we have had in decades to effectively manage migration and enhance our nation’s border security.’ And Senator Lankford said it would have stopped 800,000 entries over the past four months had it already been signed into law. The fact that many of my Republican colleagues voted to kill this strong, bipartisan proposal simply because they wanted to score political points is beyond frustrating but I won’t give up on getting something done.”
Tester concluded his letter to the President by noting that while congressional action is needed to provide critical funding and asylum law changes, he has been clear that Biden must also use his executive authorities to get the situation under control: “I have said many times over the past three years, your Administration can and must do more to secure the southern border. I hope during your trip today you listen to the officers, agents, and law enforcement leaders on the ground and give them the additional tools they need to do their job and keep America safe. I also urge you to take immediate action to improve our asylum processes so that only those with valid claims are processed, to stop illegal border crossings and enforce our immigration laws, and to boost manpower with the limited tools you have and support the men and women who are working to keep our country safe.”
Read Tester’s full letter to President Biden HERE.
Last month Tester voted for the Border Act of 2024, the compromise bill negotiated by Republican Senator Lankford and others – but politicians in Congress blocked the bipartisan border security legislation. Here’s what Republican leaders and law enforcement said about the bill:
The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), which represents approximately 18,000 Border Patrol agents and personnel charged with enforcing our country’s border security policies, stated in part: “The Border Act of 2024 will codify into law authorities that U.S. Border Patrol agents never had in the past. This will allow us to remove single adults expeditiously and without a lengthy judicial review, which historically has required the release of these individuals into the interior of the U.S. This alone will drop illegal border crossings nationwide and will allow a great many of our agents to get back to detecting and apprehending those who want to cross our borders illegally and evade apprehension. While not perfect, the Border Act of 2024 is a step in the right direction and is far better than the status quo, which is why the National Border Patrol Council endorses the bill and hopes for a quick passage.”
The Director of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stated in part: “This proposed legislation would provide the strongest set of tools we have had in decades to effectively manage migration and enhance our nation’s border security.”
Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell admittedly publicly that his own party has played politics with securing the border, stating: “I followed the instructions of my conference, who were insisting that we tackle this in October. I mean, it’s actually our side that wanted to tackle the border issue. We started it,” McConnell said, adding that “things have changed over the last four months.”
On February 14, a week after the Border Act failed, Tester pressed congressional leaders to pass the bipartisan border security legislation in light of new reporting detailing that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is facing a dangerous budget shortfall that could result in the release of thousands of detainees.
Daines Supports an Alternate Approach
On September 14, 2023, U.S. Senator Steve Daines cosponsored with 32 fellow Republicans the “Secure the Border Act”. The Act was designed to “resume construction on the border wall, tighten asylum standards, criminalize visa overstays, increase the number of Border Patrol Agents, defund organizations receiving tax dollars to help traffic illegal aliens, prohibit Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from using its app to assist illegal aliens and more.” The companion bill passed the House of Representatives as H.R. 2 on May 11, 2023, garnering all but two Republican votes and no votes from the Democrats.
The “Secure the Border Act” enacts border security solutions, including:
Requiring the DHS to resume border wall construction.
Increasing the number of Border Patrol Agents.
Tightening asylum standards by restricting asylum to only aliens who present at ports of entry and by requiring aliens to prove they are “more likely than not” to qualify for their asylum claim.
Narrowing DHS’s power to unilaterally grant parole to illegal aliens.
Criminalizing visa overstays by making the first offense a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and the second offense a felony punishable by up to a $2,000 fine and up to two years imprisonment.
Stopping organizations from using tax dollars to transport or lodge illegal aliens and provide illegal aliens with lawyers.
Restricting DHS from using its CBP One app to welcome illegal aliens into the country.
Requiring employers to use E-Verify.
Ensuring Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has access to the criminal history databases of all countries of origin and transit so that CBP is aware of the criminal history of illegal aliens encountered at the southern border.
Daines and Tester Continue to Work For Montana
Although it failed to pass originally as part of the Border Act of 2024, both Montana’s U.S. senators worked to get their FEND Off Fentanyl Act included in the National Security Act of 2024 that was passed by both the House and Senate.
Montana’s senators continue to seek a workable solution to the crisis at our southern border and to improve U.S. immigration policies to prevent future crises.