(NewsNation) — Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said Tuesday the southern border has turned into an “absolute disaster” under the Biden administration and suggested the president’s policies are going to cost him the election in November.
“It was this administration’s decision when they got into office to just open up the borders,” Tuberville said Tuesday on “The Hill on NewsNation.” “This is a disgrace.”
Tuberville’s comments came as the Republican-led House Homeland Security Committee was meeting to discuss articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Republicans allege he has willfully ignored U.S. laws and allowed a record number of migrants to cross the southern border during his tenure. Democrats argue their colleagues are playing political games and say Mayorkas has not committed any high crimes or misdemeanors as outlined in the Constitution.
Tuberville suggested not enforcing current laws constitutes a crime.
“(President Joe Biden) and Mayorkas shouldn’t be impeached; they should be locked up for what they’ve done to the American people,” Tuberville said. “They’re doing this intentionally. … It’s an absolute disaster at the border.”
Negotiations over a bipartisan border bill in the Senate have been held up, largely over whether the enforcement measures should be paired with military aid for Ukraine. Some Republicans have signaled they prefer the two policy matters to be in separate bills.
“We don’t need a new bill. Just go by the laws we have,” Tuberville said. “You can close the border down right now, but they don’t want to do that. … It’s an absolute disaster at the border.”
A little over nine months away from the general election, Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump have zeroed in on the border as a policy issue, pointing to the record number of encounters during Biden’s tenure. More than 2 million migrants have crossed the border in each of the last two fiscal years.
“It’s gonna be hung over their heads during this election coming up, and they’re gonna get run out of town,” Tuberville said of Biden and Democrats.