U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is getting hit by her opponent for hypocrisy after amplifying a WSMV article titled ‘Nearly 600 immigrants could travel to Middle Tennessee, Homeland Security says.’
In sharing the post, Blackburn accused President Joe Biden of “trafficking illegal immigrants” to her state, drawing mockery and condemnation from State Rep. Gloria Johnson, who’s running for Blackburn’s seat in 2024. Johnson wrote: “Bless her heart, the law has been the same for Marsha’s entire 21-year tenure in Congress.”
Never over those two decades, suggests Johnson, has Blackburn risen to the occasion to fix the border problems, saying that instead “all she’s done is vote against every consequential bipartisan immigration bill that has come through the House & Senate.”
Bless her heart, the law has been the same for Marsha’s entire 21-year tenure in Congress, & during that time all she’s done is vote against every consequential bipartisan immigration bill that has come through the House & Senate, then jump on Fox News to sow divisiveness. It’s… https://t.co/EuoMMbiBMg
— Rep. Gloria Johnson (@VoteGloriaJ) February 2, 2024
The article Blackburn shared cites a two-page document (see below) the City of Franklin received from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which explains how noncitizens are processed at the Southwest border. The DHS document states that noncitizens are required to provide an intended destination in the U.S. prior to being released from DHS custody.
It notes that in September 2023, 573 noncitizens claimed their intended destination was in the area of Nashville, Davidson, Murfreesboro and Franklin — in middle Tennessee.
[NOTE: A clarification in the article: “DHS says it does not have a role in transporting released noncitizens to their intended destination and does not have a role in validating travel plans.” Noncitizens who are conditionally released,” DHS states “are subject to reporting requirements, such as regular check ins with ICE, attendance at their immigration court proceedings, and keeping DHS apprised of their current residential address.”]
Senator Blackburn wrote on X: “It is ridiculous that the Biden administration is trafficking illegal immigrants to Tennessee. The only transporting of migrants we should be doing is transporting them out of the country.”
Johnson kept pounding the narrative that Blackburn, like other MAGA GOP House legislators, is being disingenuous and holding up a solution so that the border problem persists — and represents a target for Donald Trump in his campaign against the incumbent Biden. The thinking goes that if the border gets fixed, Trump can’t hit Biden on it.
“If Marsha doesn’t like the current laws and protocols,” Johnson writes, “she can stop gaslighting folks and start doing her job by joining negotiations with Republican and Democratic leaders on a border deal, instead of fear-mongering to benefit Trump’s candidacy.”
Here are the facts: The law requires any noncitizen being processed to inform CBP or ICE as to their final intended destination, after security screening. The government isn’t transporting them anywhere. They also require regular check-ins as their cases are reviewed.
— Rep. Gloria Johnson (@VoteGloriaJ) February 2, 2024
.jpg){kind=link}