Border Patrol Council backs Senate bill: 'It brings some kind of normalcy'

The National Border Patrol Council is throwing its support behind Senate legislation to provide funding for border security in exchange for foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel that conservatives have excoriated as likely to exacerbate the situation at the southern border.

The Senate legislation has prompted furious criticisms from Republican border hawks, including calls for a change in party leadership. Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee, for instance, suggested the legislation "feels like an elaborate practical joke." But National Border Patrol Council Vice President Art del Cueto on Monday insisted his organization would support the legislation, contending it would likely be the best they could get.

"We support this bill, because it's like I said, it brings some kind of normalcy to the mess that was created under this administration," he said on the "Just the News, No Noise" television show. "Is it a perfect bill? No, I don't think we're gonna get the perfect bill."

He then touched on one of the points of criticism, referencing a threshold of 5,000 crossings per day for a week before requiring the exercise of border emergency authority.

"A lot of talk on the 5,000 cap, Okay, but what that is, right now, there is no cap. So everyone that's processed under this bill, everyone's going to get detained, they're not just going to release them," he went on. "Why is it 5,000? Because they're saying, you know, they're going to hold up to 5,000, if they're going to go through the process, but the processes are more strict than they are now."

"The asylum officers will make the determination on the assignment, if you don't have a good asylum claim, they're going to get, you know, sent back immediately, without ever getting relief," he continued. "And as opposed to now, everyone's getting released. And no, they're not showing up for court or, you know, their court cases are 10 years down the road."

"Like I said, not perfect. I wish everyone would ... go through all the processes, but over 60% of what is being apprehended a single male military, age. [We need to stop these] individuals from being released," he concluded.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.