Tester Statement on Bipartisan Border Security Legislation

U.S. Senator Jon Tester today issued the following statement after Senate negotiators released the text of a bipartisan border security deal:

“What’s happening at the southern border is unacceptable, plain and simple. Montanans from every corner of our state tell me they want a secure border and a solution to the fentanyl crisis, and law enforcement have made it clear to me that they need resources and policy changes to get the job done—something only Congress has the power to do. So it’s time for my colleagues in Congress to stop kicking the can down the road and quit using the border as a political football. Let’s put this bipartisan proposal on the floor so we can debate it before the American people and pass a bill to secure our border now.”

For months, a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators led by Republican Senator James Lankford from Oklahoma, Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona, and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut have worked to produce bipartisan border security legislation.

In December, Tester pressed Senate leadership to prioritize these border security negotiations and tackle our broken immigration system. In a recent statewide and national op-ed, Tester called for the Senate to get the bill on the floor for debate.

Tester has consistently led the charge to secure our nation’s borders and combat fentanyl trafficking in Montana. Last year, Tester directly confronted Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the Biden Administration’s failure to secure the southern border. As the Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Tester passed critical provisions in the 2023 NDAA and the 2023 government funding bill to fund law enforcement and stop fentanyl trafficking along the southern border.