Graham: Adding immigration to infrastructure bill ‘dumbest’ idea in history of Senate, WH

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is slamming a proposal from Democrats to insert a provision that would grant a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as part of the infrastructure spending proposal currently being debated in Congress.

“If you give one person legal status there will be a run on our border like you have never seen before,” Graham said Monday during an appearance on Fox News. “[It’s] the dumbest idea in the history of the Senate, the history of the White House. It will lead to the breakdown of law and order beyond what you see today.” 

The Republican senator added such a move would amount to “a power grab” that has not a “damn thing to do with infrastructure.”

Graham’s comments come a week after a group of Democratic House members penned a letter to the chairs of the House and Senate Budget committees urging them to include investments in immigration reform as part of the budget resolution for fiscal 2022. 

“As you develop the budget resolution for fiscal year 2022, we urge you to include bold reforms to our immigration system so that it meets the needs of the American people now and prepares us for a vibrant and economically prosperous future. While we continue to build broad support for the U.S. Citizenship Act, we stand ready to work with you to pass immigration reforms through the budget reconciliation process,” the Democratic House members wrote. 

The group of Democrats is also pursuing the U.S. Citizenship Act in the House after President Biden earlier this year pledged to work with Congress to pass comprehensive legislation on immigration. Biden’s proposal would provide a pathway to citizenship not just for “Dreamers,” who were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents as children, but also for others already in the country, offering a maximum eight-year track to gain citizenship, The Hill previously reported.

Graham and Republicans have criticized Biden’s immigration policies, his handling of the ongoing crisis at the southern border, and have accused his Democratic allies in Congress of stuffing an infrastructure spending bill with too many other political pet projects and not enough money for road, bridges and another physical infrastructure.