CLAIM: A deal to expand immigration brokered by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) was a “real bipartisan solution” that only failed because former President Donald Trump urged Senate Republicans to oppose it.
VERDICT: Not entirely true. The deal was opposed by Republicans and a handful of Democrats when it was voted on twice earlier this year.
“For the first time in decades, a chance at a real bipartisan solution,” a video at the Democrat National Convention (DNC) states. It refers to the deal from Lankford, Murphy, and Sinema they struck in the Senate to expedite work permits for migrants arriving at the United States-Mexico border, among other provisions.
“Trump directed his allies in the Senate to vote it down,” Vice President Kamala Harris says in the DNC video.
That claim, though, fails to mention that many Senate Democrats opposed the pro-migration deal as well, joining Senate Republicans to block its passage.
In February, for instance, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) joined Republicans to block the bill. Sens. Lankford (R-OK), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) were the only Republicans to support its passage.
Then, in May, Murkowski was the sole Republican to join most Democrats in trying to advance the deal in the Senate. Meanwhile, Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) joined most Republicans to block the deal from advancing in the Senate.
Though Harris and the DNC sought to claim that the deal would have passed if not for Republican opposition, some of its most vocal opponents were members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who disavowed the deal for failing to include amnesty for millions of illegal aliens.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
