Top Senate Democrat lets the truth slip about the so-called border bill: 'The border never fully closes'

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) admitted the controversial bill that will allegedly stymie the border crisis won't actually close the border.

On Sunday, the Senate released the full text of the bipartisan Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which would cost taxpayers $118 billion. More than half of that money ($60 billion, which is more than the entire budget of the U.S. Marine Corps), would be sent to Ukraine, while just $20 billion would be spent on the border crisis.

The most controversial and debated provisions of the bill center on how many migrants can be allowed into the U.S. before the president can "shut down" the border.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), who helped co-author the bill with Murphy and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), denied the bill would allow 5,000 migrants to enter the U.S. per day. Rather, he argued the bill "is designed to close the border" and turn away migrants.

A good way to gauge the truth is to see what the other side of the aisle is saying about the matter. And, according to Murphy, what Lankford claimed is not true.

Murphy explained the bill stipulates:

the president to funnel asylum claims to the land ports of entry when more than 5,000 people cross a day. The border never closes, but claims must be processed at the ports. This allows for a more a more orderly, humane asylum processing system.

In another statement, Murphy explained the emergency authority that Lankford argued permits the president to "close the border" is temporary — and doesn't even result in a full closure.

"Importantly, even during these emergency times, the border never fully closes," Murphy celebrated.

The legislation, indeed, permits the continual processing of migrants when the emergency authority has been activated (i.e., the time when the border is supposedly shut down).

"During any activation of the border emergency authority ... the Secretary shall maintain the capacity to process, and continue processing ... a minimum of 1,400 inadmissible aliens each calendar day cumulatively across all southwest land border ports of entry in a safe and orderly process," the bill states.

It's no wonder, then, why House Republicans say the bill is "DEAD on arrival in the House."

"House Republicans oppose the Senate immigration bill because it fails in every policy area needed to secure our border and would actually incentivize more illegal immigration," House Republican leadership said in a joint statement on Monday.

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