Sen. Marsha Blackburn parrots Trump immigration talking points, but gives few specifics

Editor's note: Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, recently wrote a guest opinion column criticizing the Biden Administration for its immigration policies and offering alternatives. Readers wrote letters below reacting to her position. If you would like to join the debate, send a letter of 250 words or fewer to letters@tennessean.com. Include your full name, address and contact information for verification; only writers' names, cities/towns and ZIP codes will be published.

Marsha Blackburn can’t name specifics to fix immigration problems

Re: “Republicans countering Biden Administration’s border policies,” by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Jan. 28.

Opinion and Engagement Director David Plazas wrote about Senator Blackburn’s column in the Jan. 25 Tennessee Voices newsletter saying she “ … outlines GOP solutions as better alternatives” to the issue of immigration.

Actually, I don't see where she outlines anything except directing us to House Resolution (H.R.) 2.

So, I looked at H.R. 2 and I find this: “(Sec. 103) This section imposes additional requirements on DHS related to the construction of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. For example, the bill requires DHS to construct a border wall (including related infrastructure and technology) along at least 900 miles of that border, whereas currently DHS is required to have at least 700 miles of reinforced fencing along that border.

“This section also requires DHS to waive all legal requirements necessary to ensure the expeditious construction of the border barriers, whereas currently DHS is authorized to waive such requirements."

Say what? Senator Blackburn does not, in my view, outline anything. She points to a bill passed by the House and sitting in the Senate and that is the extent of her outlining.

The courts have now ruled that the federal government may undo what the states of Texas and Arizona have done on their own initiative to 'secure' the border.

I would appreciate it if Senator Blackburn could tell us in her words three things about H.R. 2, which are legal, that the Democrats are blocking.

Robert C. Rine, Murfreesboro 37129

Another view: Gov. Bill Lee defies famed Tennessee hospitality by backing Texas' harsh border policy

Another view: Rep. Mark Green: Why securing all our borders will protect Tennessee's security

Senator Blackburn functions as Trump proxy on border policy

Re:  “Republicans countering Biden Administration’s border policies” by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Jan. 28

Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, is the fall guy in politicized Republican efforts to sabotage bipartisan consensus on legislation to secure the border.

Prior to the Senate’s holiday recess, momentum for passage was building, featuring a joint appearance by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Conversely, the Republican controlled House is mired in partisan politics, their proposed “Secure the Border Act” stifling legal immigration measures, which has historically tamped down the influx of undocumented migrants.

Contrary to Senator Blackburn’s narrative, the vast majority of undocumented immigrants are not miscreants, but contributing members of society. Favoring a cruel but ineffective deterrent to asylum seekers, the senator decries the cutting down of razor wire fences by federal agents, a practice upheld by a recent Supreme Court ruling.

While Senator Blackburn bemoans the flood of migrants released on the U.S. side of the border, she makes no mention of Congress’s seeming obliviousness to urgent requests from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, soliciting a proportionate increase in allocated funds to address the crisis.

The senator informs; “In fiscal year 2022 alone, taxpayers shouldered the cost of $94.3 million worth of medical expenses for migrants.”  However, this expenditure is more than offset by the billions of dollars immigrants pay toward health insurance premiums and taxes.

Senator Blackburn contends; “By taking in undocumented immigrants” there is a Blue state conspiracy to counter the population flight to Red states;  yet the mass exodos is primarily concentrated in more populous metro Blue enclaves such as Austin, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Raleigh, Durham, Miami, Nashville, Tampa and Phoenix.

Robert Judkins, Hendersonville 37075

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Letters: Marsha Blackburn parrots Trump immigration talking points