Speaker 1: Senator Rick Scott right. In this our lawless southern border
Speaker 1: poses a huge threat. The Schumer, McConnell Biden deal still
Speaker 1: allows criminals and terrorists to continue to pour into our country.
Speaker 1: We need actual border security, Senator Scott, I'm pleased to say,
Speaker 1: joins us now for more. Senator, I'm just going to
Speaker 1: start the conversation by sharing two quotes with you, and
Speaker 1: you can help me understand who's got this right. The
Speaker 1: first quote is from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who says,
Speaker 1: here's what people pushing this deal aren't telling you. It
Speaker 1: accepts five thousand illegal immigrants a day. The bill, as
Speaker 1: you know, sir, because you've read it, specifically, refers to
Speaker 1: five thousand encounters. Your colleague in the Senate, Senator Langford
Speaker 1: said this to Fox News. If you get to five thousand,
Speaker 1: which we have been there every single day except for
Speaker 1: seven in the last four months, seven days in the
Speaker 1: last four months, that it completely closes the border down.
Speaker 1: It deports everyone. Senator, why are Republicans struggling to get
Speaker 1: on the same page on this bill.
Speaker 2: The problem is this is not a border security bill.
Speaker 2: It's an immigration bill. When you go back home to
Speaker 2: my state of Florida. What people want is they wanted
Speaker 2: porter to be secured. A Chris Murphy, who is the
Speaker 2: Democrat leading the negotiations on the Democrat side, said, the
Speaker 2: border will never be closed. Uh So when when even
Speaker 2: when you hit that five thousand, all that has happened
Speaker 2: is all those individuals get shipped to a uh you know,
Speaker 2: a port of entry and they can still come through.
Speaker 2: So it was it's it's not unfortunately, it's not a
Speaker 2: border security bill. Uh, it's an immigration bill. And that's
Speaker 2: why it's not going to happen. It was unfortunately just
Speaker 2: you know, you know, they did it behind closed doors.
Speaker 2: They didn't ask for people's input.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: They sprung it on us Sunday night. And it's not
Speaker 2: something that you know, we want to do. We want
Speaker 2: to we don't want an immigration bill. We want to
Speaker 2: a border security bill. And that's why that's why it's
Speaker 2: not going to pass today.
Speaker 3: Senator, how are you left behind in negotiations?
Speaker 1: Though?
Speaker 3: In December in the Wall Street Journal, you along with
Speaker 3: your colleagues like Mike Lee, were quoted as saying one
Speaker 3: of the proposals is that this would reduce illegal crossings
Speaker 3: and that number of legal crossings reduced by about twenty
Speaker 3: thousand from the prior month's level. That's what you were
Speaker 3: looking for, those reductions of those crossings. And you said, quote,
Speaker 3: we've been told that that's part of the conversation. So
Speaker 3: you've known about some of these conversations from December. Why
Speaker 3: are you shocked now, Oh.
Speaker 4: I'm not shocked. It was clear.
Speaker 2: You know, Mitch McConnell made the decision that we would
Speaker 2: not hold a lawless Biden administration to secure the border.
Speaker 2: The only week we could do that is say we
Speaker 2: will not give you Crain aid on a monthly basis
Speaker 2: unless the number of people crossing the border and staying
Speaker 2: here comes down.
Speaker 4: So I've always had a concern about the bill.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of other concerns about the bill, but
Speaker 2: my biggest concern never was addressed. We have a lawless
Speaker 2: administration that could secure the border today. Trump's secure with
Speaker 2: the existing law, and we don't have There's nothing in
Speaker 2: here that would make Biden secure the border today. And
Speaker 2: then Chris Murphy said he was clear the border will
Speaker 2: never be closed.
Speaker 3: Does this bill what you see and you've read through
Speaker 3: the three hundred pages, wee can any immigration law we
Speaker 3: currently have.
Speaker 4: Well, I think a lot.
Speaker 2: Of concerns are is that it will prevent a Republican
Speaker 2: president that does want to secure the border because it
Speaker 2: will have some limitations on their ability to actually close
Speaker 2: the border, which the prisident has ability to close the
Speaker 2: border today. So there's a lot of concern that through
Speaker 2: the court system that you know, people that want to
Speaker 2: completely open border, like Joe Biden does, will be able
Speaker 2: to go to the courts and forever keep the border open.
Speaker 4: As Chris Murphy said, the border will never be closed.
Speaker 4: That was their plan. So here's the problem. James Langfort
Speaker 4: is a good person, tried hard.
Speaker 2: Nos the issue, but he was negotiating with somebody that
Speaker 2: didn't want to have a secure border, and he was
Speaker 2: hamstrung by Mitch mcconough who said, we're not going to
Speaker 2: tie by his hands have forced him.
Speaker 4: To secure the border today.
Speaker 2: That's what Sourians want. They want a secure border today.
Speaker 3: Biden says that he would close the border if this
Speaker 3: bill became law, So why not put in his hands
Speaker 3: and see if he does it.
Speaker 2: He could do it today. He hasn't done it today.
Speaker 2: I mean he's the day he came into office. He's
Speaker 2: you know, is implemented Catcher release. He stopped remain in Mexico,
Speaker 2: he stopped building the wall, he sold off this steel.
Speaker 4: So, I mean, look, Biden doesn't want to have a secureboorder.
Speaker 2: You're going to trust somebody that has shown you through
Speaker 2: their actions for three years they don't want to have
Speaker 2: a secureboorder. He doesn't need another bill. I mean, the
Speaker 2: only way this is going to happen is we get
Speaker 2: a president that wants to secure the border. He could
Speaker 2: do it today.
Speaker 4: He's made the decision, Biden, to not have a secure border.
Speaker 5: Senator, I have to say, just taking a step back,
Speaker 5: there's just a lot of feeling that there's just utter
Speaker 5: dysfunction and nobody wants to negotiate with anyone because it's
Speaker 5: the political season and it makes Biden maybe have a
Speaker 5: win rather than the former President Trump who's running on
Speaker 5: this issue. How push back against that when it seems
Speaker 5: like some people are rejecting the bill before even reading it, Well, I.
Speaker 2: Mean I told them my concern was we've got to
Speaker 2: we've got to make Biden enforce the law. And that
Speaker 2: was my concern all along. There's there's a lot of
Speaker 2: provisions in here that make this an immigration bill. But
Speaker 2: look what you're we should be doing up here is
Speaker 2: we should be having robust conversations on the Senate floor.
Speaker 2: All everybody there, bring your ideas. But that's not how
Speaker 2: this is done. What we've been doing. I've been up
Speaker 2: here five years. Sher McConnell negotiated a deal behind the scenes.
Speaker 2: They showed its last minute and expected vote. They gave
Speaker 2: us this bill Sunday night, we've not seen intects before
Speaker 2: and expected us vote on it today. That's not the
Speaker 2: way this should happen.
Speaker 3: Centator I understond. You don't like the way this process
Speaker 3: went done. But when you look at say, say the
Speaker 3: Border Patrol Union, they endorse former President Trump, they say
Speaker 3: this is better than nothing. You look at the numbers
Speaker 3: in December, more than three hundred thousand migrants along the
Speaker 3: southwest border. That's nearly ten thousand a day. I've read
Speaker 3: the tax and it says if this deal is in
Speaker 3: place in December, five thousand encounters the border automatically shuts
Speaker 3: at that. If you look at those numbers at minimum,
Speaker 3: then this would be cutting December in half. How is
Speaker 3: that not better than what you have today?
Speaker 4: Well, it doesn't say the border closes.
Speaker 2: What it says is you have to go to a
Speaker 2: port of entry, so the border does not close. So here,
Speaker 2: why aren't we Why don't we go back and secure
Speaker 2: the border with the existing law. I mean, we have
Speaker 2: a lawless president. It doesn't matter what bill we pass,
Speaker 2: he's not going to enforce it. So why doesn't you know,
Speaker 2: Joe Biden do his job. He's the President of United States.
Speaker 2: His responsibility to secure the border. We've got seventy thousand
Speaker 2: people dying a drug overdose, We've got terrorists, we've got
Speaker 2: human traffickers, we got criminals come across the border.
Speaker 4: Why does he do his job?
Speaker 2: That's what That's what the expectation should be, is we
Speaker 2: have a president that does the job.
Speaker 3: You have a democratic president, you have a Democratic held Senate.
Speaker 3: The Republicans control one of one branch of government. Why
Speaker 3: is this not an incremental step that you can build on.
Speaker 3: It is a divided government. You're going to need Senator
Speaker 3: Chris Murphy to bring his Democrats along.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, why do we have a secure border?
Speaker 2: I mean, we have a lawless administration. I'm not going
Speaker 2: to support I'm not going to say, oh, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm okay, with fifty terrorists coming into my neighborhood, I
Speaker 2: know I don't want that. I think we ought to
Speaker 2: have a secure border. I don't want drugs coming to
Speaker 2: my neighborhood. I don't want I don't want terrorists. I
Speaker 2: don't want human traffickers. I don't want any of this
Speaker 2: stuff in my neighborhood. We should expect our government to
Speaker 2: do their job secure the border. This will not secure
Speaker 2: the border. We don't have a person that's willing to
Speaker 2: do it. There's nothing in this bill that's going to
Speaker 2: force him to secure the border.
Speaker 3: President Trump has been very public that he does not
Speaker 3: want to see this bill go through. Do you speak
Speaker 3: to him regularly?
Speaker 4: I do?
Speaker 3: And is your sense that this is the top issue
Speaker 3: he wants to run on, and that is why it's
Speaker 3: become politicized in Washington. D see, he's.
Speaker 2: Not talked to me about it. He's not asking he's
Speaker 2: not asked me not to support it. I've been clear
Speaker 2: all along, I want a secure border. Uh, We've we've
Speaker 2: been We've been having the same conversation for months. I
Speaker 2: will support a bill that has a secure border, all right,
Speaker 2: but we have to remember the only way that's going
Speaker 2: to happen. Is we have something in here that forces
Speaker 2: Biden to do his job.
Speaker 4: He could do he could.
Speaker 2: Secure the border today he is elected not to secure
Speaker 2: the border.
Speaker 1: Senator is fantastic a couch overvisa. I have no doubt
Speaker 1: we'll be continuing this conversation in the weeks and months
Speaker 1: to come. Thanks for joining us today. Senator Rick Sculpte
Speaker 1: on the latest situation down at Washington, d C.