There’s very few things these days that can garner bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.
But securing the U.S. border from dangerous members of drug cartels should be at the top of that list, right?
But don’t tell that to infamous “Squad” Democrat Rashida Tlaib.
The House of Representatives recently passed a bill aimed at cracking down on Mexican cartels’ use of tunnels underneath the southwestern border to smuggle illegal immigrants and illicit items the U.S.
The bill was led by Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., and had bipartisan support thanks to its lone Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif.
The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 402 to 1 vote.
But there was a lone dissenter — Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.
The legislation, titled the Subterranean Border Defense Act, would direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to submit an annual report to Congress about cartels’ use of tunnels and how U.S. law enforcement was looking to combat it.
“Since 1990, officials have discovered more than 140 tunnels that have breached the U.S. border with an 80% increase in tunnel activity occurring since 2008,” Crane said during debate on the bill.
“With border crossings thankfully going down since January, I think it’s safe to assume this will drive threats to our border underground through these tunnels.”
Debate on the bill was brief on Monday afternoon, lasting less than 10 minutes. Just Correa and Crane spoke, with no lawmakers rising to oppose the bill.
“I believe this bill is an important step in the right direction,” Correa said.
House leaders held the vote under suspension of the rules, meaning the legislation was fast-tracked to a final House-wide vote in exchange for raising the threshold for passage from a simple majority to two-thirds.
It’s what House GOP leaders have done for critical legislation that is expected to receive wide bipartisan support.
This isn’t the first instance of Tlaid dissenting from her party over legistation drawn up to protect the country’s border.
In January, Tlaib openly slammed legislation supported by members of both parties that requires undocumented immigrants accused of even minor crimes to be detained.
She argued it promotes racial profiling and will spread fear in immigrant communities.
“It will separate families. It would lead again to continued discrimination,” said Tlaib.
Tlaib argued against legislation named for Laken Riley, a nursing student in Georgia who was killed last year by a Venezuelan man in the U.S. illegally and who had been previously charged with shoplifting.
“It’s shameful that my colleagues are giving in to racist fearmongering at the first opportunity to pass legislation to scapegoat our immigrant neighbors and fuel hate in our communities.”