Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a $4.5 billion initiative this week to help alleviate an immigration crisis at the southern border.
The legislation contains $1 billion to house and feed migrants detained by immigration authorities and almost $3 billion to care for unaccompanied children. The GOP-led Senate passed its own measure, that would spend $4.6 billion, which includes millions to help speed up processing of migrants in immigration courts.
But according to one of Virginia’s top three elected Democrats, there is no emergency at the southern border.
In February, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring joined a lawsuit with other Democrat Attorneys Genera, calling the situation at the border a “fake emergency.”
“Concocting a fake emergency to build a needless wall goes against the Constitution and the values America was built on,” Herring said a press release.
“President Trump’s ill-advised plan could divert critical funds from actual national security priorities, including military construction projects at bases and facilities throughout Virginia. We must stand up to this administration when it violates the law and attacks our values.”
There is no emergency at the border, Herring noted.
“The facts do not support President Trump’s rhetoric or his declaration,” the release states. “Unlawful southern border entries are at their lowest point in twenty-years, immigrants are less likely than native-born citizens to commit crimes, and illegal drugs are more likely to come through official ports of entry.”
Democrats have largely changed their tune on the border, switching from calling the crisis “manufactured” to a “humanitarian crisis.”
Herring has joined a number of lawsuits against the President in recent years. In 2014, he issued an unofficial opinion that illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children could receive in-state tuition at Virginia schools.