House Democrats promised to bail out Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) if he were to do the “right thing” and help pass an immigration bill that would do little to combat the border crisis unfolding under President Joe Biden.
Johnson has said he opposes an immigration deal struck by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and Democrats.
Although he faces significant pressure from President Donald Trump and conservatives not to back the deal, Democrats are now offering to help him keep his speakership should he face a motion to vacate over his passing of the immigration bill.
No. Deal. https://t.co/9lNJT4fmT2
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 18, 2024
“Our job is not to save Johnson, but I think it would be a mighty pity, if he did the right thing … for us not to support him. Up to this point, he’s been a fairly honest broker,” House Homeland Security Committee Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) said, “People really underestimate the degree to which people really didn’t like Kevin McCarthy. The argument I’ve made to Mike is: You’re going to make an enormous amount of progress on the border however this comes out — and you’ve still got your political issue because you think there’s more that needs to be done.”
“He’s got to decide if he’s going to do what’s right — or he’s going to do what’s politically expedient to just keep himself there for another — er, I don’t know how long,” Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) said.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, center, speaks with visitors at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. (Julia Nikhinson/Bloomberg via Getty)
Breitbart News has documented how the border deal would only reward illegal immigration and encourage more foreign graduates to take jobs from American graduates:
An agreed border deal would:
1) Increase green cards by 50,000/year
2) Work permits for adult children of H-1B holders
3) Immediate work permits to every illegal alien released from custody
4) Taxpayer funded lawyers to certain UACs and mentally incompetent aliens
5) Expulsion authority for a limited number of days ONLY if encounters exceed 5k/day over a seven day period
6) Restricts parole for those who enter without authorization between ports of entry
Johnson, instead of backing the deal, has urged President Joe Biden to use his executive authority to stem the border crisis. He said that returning to many of Trump’s border control policies could combat the migration crisis.
“On his first day in office, President Biden came in and issued executive orders that began this chaos,” Johnson said in early January. This includes the Remain in Mexico policy, which would require migrants seeking asylum to wait in Mexico for their court dates.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
