Republican Oklahoma State Rep. Jim Olsen backed the state Republican Party’s decision over the weekend to censure one of the state’s own Republican U.S. senators, James Lankford, for negotiating with Democrats on an immigration and border security proposal.
Speaking with NTD News on Monday, Mr. Olsen said Mr. Lankford has been reliably conservative on many issues, but said the decision by the Oklahoma Republican Party (OKGOP) to censure Mr. Lankford was necessary to convey how seriously state Republicans are treating the issue of border security.
“[Mr. Lankford has] stood strong on many issues that really, really matter. He’s been a strong social conservative, and I appreciate all of that about him,” Mr. Olsen said. “But this issue is an extreme situation. It’s a full invasion of our country, and we need to react to it as if it were. So I do think the censure is called for. The situation is so severe.”
Senate negotiators have yet to release the actual details of the border security bill, but rumors about various aspects of the bill have already begun to circulate. One provision of the bill reportedly calls for border officials to close down border crossings, but only after they’ve encountered a rolling average of 5,000 border crossings per day for at least a week.
Mr. Olsen noted a daily average of 5,000 people per day amounts to about 1.8 million illegal crossings per year.
“I think Senator Lankford just needs to return to the rule of law. Illegal is illegal. There should be none let in. And much as I respect the man for many reasons, yeah, I do think it is worth a censure vote. I think it is appropriate,” Mr. Olsen said.
Lankford Defends Unpublished Border Deal
Though Mr. Lankford has not provided the actual text of the proposed bill for direct scrutiny, he told Fox News on Sunday that certain parts of the border security proposal have been misunderstood, including the provision describing a daily average of 5,000 illegal border crossings.
“It would be absolutely absurd for me to agree to 5,000 people a day,” Mr. Lankford told Fox News.
Mr. Lankford said the bill actually aims to expand detention facilities and deportation flights and the 5,000 daily crossings figure represents the number of people the federal government aims to be able to detain and rapidly deport.
“People are thinking about how [President Joe Biden’s administration] is running it now. Right now, the Biden administration is allowing, for instance, 1,500 people a day just to come to the ports of entry, get a work permit, and get released in the country. People coming between ports of entry get what’s called a ‘notice to appear’ and get released in the country,” Mr. Lankford said of the current border policies, adding that under the proposal he’s negotiating, “All of that stops.”
“We’re focused on how many people can we process quickly and then deport out of the country, not release into the country. It would be absolutely absurd for anyone to be able to propose something to say we’re just going to slow the number of releases,” Mr. Lankford continued. “We’re focused on how do we actually enforce our border and get us back to zero people actually crossing the border illegally.”
Mr. Lankford said the proposed legislation also departs from Biden administration by tightening the standards for work permits for people arriving at the border.
“Right now, the Biden administration is just giving a work permit the first day you walk across the border. You don’t have to apply for asylum. You don’t have to qualify for anything. It’s literally just show up, tell us your name and you’re in the country. They’re just asking they ‘tell us in advance that you’re coming.’ That’s the only limitation on it. The second group is people apply for asylum. They don’t actually qualify for asylum, they just apply for it. If they apply for it [in] 180 days they get a work permit,” Mr. Lankford said. “We end both of those.”
Despite Mr. Lankford’s assurances, his fellow Republicans like Mr. Olsen remain unconvinced, insisting the president already has the authority to provide the border enforcement many conservatives want and urging wariness about making deals with Democrats.
“We don’t need new legislation, we already have laws on the books that we should be enforcing. And so no, I don’t think further legislation is necessary,” Mr. Olsen told NTD News. “I don’t think we need deals with the Democrats who have never had any interest in following the rule of law in the past concerning the border.”
Censure Risks Fracturing Republicans
Mr. Lankford’s efforts to negotiate a border security agreement have been met with widespread skepticism from his fellow Republicans, with many complaining about a lack of transparency and expressing dismay at the few rumored provisions that have leaked out of the negotiation process.
Former President Donald Trump has also added his political clout to the deliberations, urging congressional Republicans to either extract strong border security commitments from Democrats or walk away from such deals.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), said last week that the way the former Republican president and 2024 party presidential frontrunner had weighed in on the negotiations had been “really appalling.” Mr. Romney, a routine critic of President Trump, said the border represents a top issue for President Trump and the former president would prefer Congress not act on the issue so that he can continue to use the issue to castigate President Biden.
Former OKGOP chairman Anthony Ferate defended Mr. Lankford against the OKGOP’s censure decision on Saturday, saying the censure resolution came from an “extreme faction” of the state party and was done without consulting all members of the OKGOP committee, making the resolution “illegitimate.”
Speaking with NTD News, Mr. Olsen said OKGOP’s censure resolution could add to a public perception that the Republican Party is fractured by infighting and unable to accomplish much for the country.
“That is a potential hazard whenever you censure one of your own,” Mr. Olsen said. “However, I just return to the seriousness of this issue. This is an all-out invasion of our country, and nothing less than a strong and unwavering response to it, nothing less than that is worthwhile.”
