According to reports, all Democratic senators in the United States Senate voted against a measure on Monday that aimed to prevent the use of tax dollars for flying illegal immigrants into the country. Senator Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee, introduced an amendment that would have prohibited the Biden administration from using federal funds for these flights. However, none of the members from the majority party supported this proposal.
Hagerty’s amendment was prompted by a report from Todd Bensman at the Center for Immigration Studies. The report, which was based on a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, revealed that 320,000 “inadmissible aliens” utilized the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s One app to fly into the United States in 2023.
Although the report did not specify the destinations of these migrants, it did mention that they were transported to 43 different airports across the country.
“I’m bringing forward a vote on a very simple question. Do you support American taxpayer dollars being used to fly illegal immigrants from countries like Venezuela and Haiti into America to be settled in cities and towns near you? If so, vote against me,” Hagerty said during a discussion of his amendment to spending legislation which would have prevented federal funds from being used for the flights. “Make no mistake here, President Biden has been secretly flying hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants into blue city airports.”
After the vote, Hagerty noted on the X platform: “Tonight every single Senate Democrat voted against my amendment that would stop Biden Admin from using taxpayer dollars to charter flights for hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens from their countries directly to American towns to be resettled. Indefensible.”
Tonight every single Senate Democrat voted against my amendment that would stop Biden Admin from using taxpayer dollars to charter flights for hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens from their countries directly to American towns to be resettled.
Indefensible. pic.twitter.com/ofTnhSPnY8
— Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) March 23, 2024
The amendment put forth by Hagerty aimed to bar illegal immigrants from being counted in the Census for the purpose of allocating seats in the House of Representatives. The final tally resulted in a 51-47 vote, with all Senate Democrats opposing the amendment. This measure was intended to avoid potential overrepresentation of districts with high numbers of illegal immigrants, which could potentially skew the distribution of political power.
“I think that this proves the motive behind the crime on our border,” Hagerty said, adding, “They want these illegal migrants in here to create more electoral power for them in their blue states. They’re creating sanctuary cities to be a magnet so these people will disproportionately flow to these blue states.”
“The estimates are as high as 10 million people that have come here. That would be 13 extra congressional districts if you allocated them the right way,” the Republican senator from Tennessee explained. “This is a tremendous amount of power that the Democrats are bringing in.”
Illegal immigration has surged to the forefront of voter concerns as the 2024 elections approach, with a majority of individuals believing that former President Donald Trump would handle the issue more effectively than President Biden.
According to a report by The Post Millennial, Trump outperformed Biden in all areas except abortion and climate change when respondents were questioned about their views on the job performance of both presidents. In an ABC/Ipsos poll of 539 adults conducted between March 8 and 9, Trump received a 49 percent favorable rating on the economy, while Biden garnered 37 percent. In terms of inflation, 45 percent approved of Trump, compared to 31 percent for Biden.
When it comes to crime, Trump was seen more positively at 41 percent, in contrast to Biden’s 35 percent. Similarly, on the topic of immigration, the former president obtained a 45 percent favorable rating, while Biden lagged behind with 29 percent. The number of illegal immigrants entering the country in February rose, as reported by The Washington Times, with the Department of Homeland Security noting over 256,000 encounters with unauthorized migrants during that month.