60+ Democrats Advocated for Border Security Compromise. Will They Deliver?

Over the past weeks dozens of Democrats —including their own House Majority Leader— claimed that a physical barrier should be part of the solution to address the border crisis and should be negotiated on once the government reopened. With President Trump reopening the government in good faith, will the 60+ Democrats quoted below follow through on their promises and demand physical barriers be included as part of a border security solution? Or will they allow Speaker Pelosi to give in to the open borders faction of her party? 

Physical barriers are bipartisan, common sense, and supported by experts as a means to secure our border. They must be part of our approach to address the crisis of crime, drugs, and human trafficking at our southern border.

• Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), House Armed Services Committee Chairman: “The wall is not in itself a bad idea,” (ABC News)
• Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-NY): “Some element of a physical barrier, better technology, more border agents are all things I support.” (WAER)
• Rep. Ben McAdams (D-UT): “I don’t think a border wall is immoral . . . There are places where it probably makes sense.” (KUTV)
• Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee: “I would not rule out a wall in certain instances” (ABC)
• Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL), DCCC Chair: ““If we have a partial wall, if we have fencing, if we have technology used to keep our borders safe, all of that is fine …” (Washington Times)
• Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), House Agriculture Committee Chairman: “Give Trump the money… I’d give him the whole thing…and put strings on it so you make sure he puts the wall where it needs to be. Why are we fighting over this? We’re going to build that wall anyway, at some time.” (KFGO)
• Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI): “You would be surprised at the amount of money people are willing to put into border security and it would contain many things. … If there are places that some kind of barrier should be part of it, then that’s part of it.” (1/24/2019)
• Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO): “There are a lot of ways to accomplish the border security – through drones, through barriers, through a whole variety of things,” (Denver7)
• Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA): “He’s not talking about a wall from sea to shining sea. . . That is not what we are talking about. We are talking about physical barriers as recommended by experts.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI): “[A]m I willing to talk about more fencing and more drones and technology and radar and border agents? Absolutely.” (New York Times)
• Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA): “Increase Border Patrol agents. Increase enforcement of overstay of visas. Increase use of technology and yes fencing where there are vulnerabilities.” (CNS News)
• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): “There are areas along the border where there are currently fences that are put up or barriers that are put up that need to be enhanced,” (The Washington Free Beacon)
• Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ): “We are a nation of the rule of law, and we do need some type of barriers. . . In some places it may be electric, in some places it may be drone, in some it may be an actual wall. But we do need to ensure our security.” (Press of Atlantic City)
• Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), House Majority Whip: [Whip Clyburn] said there could be “secondary barriers” where necessary, including rebuilding existing physical barriers. (Fortune)
• Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA): “I have continually voted to improve border security, including authorizing construction of physical barriers where appropriate.” (The Fresno Bee)
• Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA): “And there are numerous things that need to be done to enhance border security. Certainly, fences and walls are a piece of it …” (CNN, 12/13/2018)
• Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD): “Certain physical barriers can make sense along the border, and a lot of places you already have that,” (The Washington Free Beacon)
• Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA): “I think there are parts of the border that would benefit from repairing fencing and other barricades that already exist there,” (The Washington Free Beacon)
• Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA): “We know that there’s already fencing and other physical barriers across the border in many different places, but there are gaps, and we need to find ways of filling those gaps, repairing the fencing…. For many of us there’s not really doubt that some kind of physical barrier is necessary.” (Fox News)
• Rep. Kendra Horn (D-OK): “We need to get the government back open again and then let’s have a broader conversation that puts everything on the table in terms of border security. . . That includes smart technology, that includes perhaps in some places a physical barrier.” (Fox 25 – KOKH)
• Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL): said he’s willing to cave on the wall if it means sparing hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients. “If that’s their ransom call, I say pay it,” (The New York Daily News)
• Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT): [Welch] said it’s important to respond to the immigration crisis in the southwestern U.S., but that proper security comes in different forms, including a physical barrier in some areas, but also “virtual walls” and patrols. (The Vermont Digger)
• Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA): “Or, it might be, a physical barrier, such as a levee or fence if that makes sense in some places.” (Breitbart)
• Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), House Majority Leader: “Physical barriers are part of the solution,” (The Washington Free Beacon)
• Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY): “I would support some physical structures on the border,” (The Washington Free Beacon)
• Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ): When asked if the congressman would support a bill that reopened the government even if it provided funding for a wall, O’Halleran simply said he has supported funding for sections of a border wall in the past. (Arizona Daily Sun)
• Sen. Angus King (I-ME): “Everybody is for border security. The question is, let’s do it in a rational, economic, sensible way. There are places where wall makes sense …” (CNN)
• Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD): “Certainly you need barriers and we support barriers,” (The Washington Free Beacon)
• Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE): “I personally don’t think that a border wall is, in and of itself, immoral,” (Washington Examiner)
• Sen. Dick Durban (D-IL): “I can tell you we have had fencing in the past and I’m sure we will in the future.” (CNS News)
• Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR): “Some fencing has uses. Some barriers are useful.” (The Washington Free Beacon)
• Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV): “I voted to fund President Trump’s wall. Check the vote.” (The Hill)
• Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA): “I know we’re going to have to add additional border security…. We’ve got about 700 miles of existing fencing. Where folks say we need additional barrier protections, I’m all for it.” (Fox News’ “Your World w/ Neil Cavuto,” 1/23/2019)
• Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE): “I am a huge advocate of border security. I think fencing makes sense in a lot of places. We have hundreds of miles of fencing, and in a lot of places, fences alongside roads make sense.” (The Congressional Record)

• Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D-IA): “We’ve got to open up the government. We’ve got to have serious conversations about border security,” (KWWL)
• Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA): “I’m always willing to have a conversation about strengthening our national security in a long-term, comprehensive, and cost-effective manner.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA): “I think we all want to see DACA protections, so I think there’s an opportunity to, if they give something — it’s called negotiation, right? . . . Give us a chance to protect the Dreamers; maybe we can give something on border security.” (VICE News)
• Rep. Andrew Kim (D-NJ): “My approach has been to talk to everyone. . . .” he said, adding that he wanted to hear from experts about the best way to secure the southern border. (Burlington County Times)
• Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN): “Let’s open back up the government and then we can have the conversation about what’s the right level of investment in border security and what are the best investments in border security.” (Shakopee Valley News)
• Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-NY): “I don’t know why people have to suffer, and worry about their next paycheck, to have a real conversation about border security. Which I can speak to, and say we certainly need to work on border security,” (Poughkeepsie Journal)
• Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL): [Rep. Foster] stood up in the closed-door meeting Wednesday to urge fellow Democrats to consider trading some amount of wall funding for legal protections for the thousands of immigrants brought to the country as children … (POLITICO)
• Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX): On if he would support some border wall funding in exchange for Democratic immigration priorities “I’m not going to rule anything out, I really am not,” (POLITICO)
• Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN): “I do believe, again, it’s predicated on a reopening of government. In that case, most assuredly there will be movement. . . There is a like-minded belief on the Democratic caucus that we need enhanced border security,” (NPR)
• Rep. Donna Shalala (D-FL): “We’re happy to negotiate, but let’s get the government going, Let’s get people back to work, and then we’ll sit down and talk about all these other things that we want to get done at the same time.” (VICE News)
• Rep. Ed Case (D-HI): “This continuing resolution, once it is enacted and signed into law, will give me and my colleagues breathing room to engage each other and the Administration on the issue of border security” (Hawaii News Now)
• Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA): “Comprehensive immigration reform has been something that this country should have addressed years ago, so if this provides us with an opportunity to get that done, I think that’s a good thing.” (VICE News)
• Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA): “We want to have a discussion about border security, but before we can do that we need to get people back to work,” (Loudoun Times-Mirror)
• Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC): “I think we need to have a serious discussion about border security and the most effective means to protect our citizens and protect our border. . . but, I think that discussion is to be had after we open the government.” (Live 5 WCSC)
• Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ): “Then, after the government is reopened, let’s get together at the table and talk about border security which obviously is essential,” (The Hill)
• Rep. Josh Harder (D-CA): “We need a strong and secure border. I will never compromise our community’s safety and security,” (Turlock Journal)
• Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR): “Not negotiating is not a good strategy. We lost the messaging battle over the weekend. We can’t reject stuff out of hand, you have to at least consider it.” (New York Magazine)
• Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA): Spokesperson: “Congressman Correa welcomes the opportunity to talk with the president about border security, as soon as the government is reopened.” (The Hill)
• Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA): “I hope that we can all come to a compromise because that’s the way things get done…. If we don’t compromise, the American people are the ones who get hurt.” (POLITICO)
• Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Speaker: “Democrats were hopeful that the President was finally willing to re-open government and proceed with a much-needed discussion to protect the border.” (Press Release)
• Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT): “We’ve got to have a secure border. And President Obama adhered to that as well. We have an open border…that’s not going to work.” (KEPR)
• Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL): “I’ve said all along that we cannot negotiate border security under the shadow of a shutdown. I look forward to finding a long-term bipartisan solution that will secure our nation & fund our government.” (Florida Politics)
• Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA): “We all agree that securing our border is a top priority, now it’s time to have a real conversation about the most effective way to do that without holding the American people hostage.” (The Morning Call)
• Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV): “Once we reopen the government, there will be room to negotiate details of a more comprehensive immigration plan that includes improved border security.” (CNN)
• Sen. Angus King (I-ME): “I want to be very clear. I am very supportive of border security and of increasing border security. . . take the problem of the shutdown away. Then we can have a discussion and a debate and find a solution through a process …” (Congressional Record)
• Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE): “[W]e are intent on making a good-faith effort to reopen the government for 3 weeks, to promptly support good-faith negotiations, to address the President’s priorities, to discuss what effective, modern investment in border security …” (Congressional Record)
• Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader: “Democrats are happy to discuss border security under regular order with the government open. We support stronger border security…. [T]here is no reason we can’t negotiate and figure it out.” (Congressional Record)
• Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ): “Recently, the President asked the Congress to consider appropriations for border security. I stand in support of working together across the aisle with my colleagues in the Senate to answer that request. Arizona needs enhanced funding for border security …” (Congressional Record)
• Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH): “I join with my colleagues in being here this afternoon to simply say that we need to open the government and that I am committed, as all of us are, to negotiate in good faith going forward to find a solution on border security.” (Congressional Record)
• Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA): “Let’s consider the President’s proposal…. This Senator will commit to good-faith negotiations. This Senator will commit to supporting increased border security beyond what we just voted on in the so-called Democratic proposal.” (Congressional Record)
• Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA): “I will state complete willingness to negotiate with this President and my colleagues over border security.” (Congressional Record)

Democrats need to put their money where their mouth is and negotiate in good faith now that the government is open. A negotiated compromise on border security must include funding for physical barriers along our southern border. The safety of our communities depends on it.