In the News

WASHINGTON – With Republicans saying any new legislation on border security is “dead on arrival,” U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal called out former President Donald Trump for undermining negotiations.

“The number one responsibility of the federal government is national security,” Neal said Friday in a statement.

“While President Biden and congressional Democrats have been working to negotiate a reasonable solution, those efforts are being undermined by the former president. Legislating is not easy, but it’s particularly difficult when you are negotiating with bad-faith actors,” Neal said.

“Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues are more concerned with electoral politics, prioritizing the issue rather than the solution,” Neal said. “The adults in the room want results.”

Neal was especially pointed in his criticism of Trump’s comments concerning immigrants themselves.

“I reject the position made by the former president that immigrants are poisoning the blood of America,” Neal said. “My grandparents were immigrants – they did not poison the blood of America. They had children who went on to serve in our nation’s military, they paid their taxes, and they were good citizens.

“We can support sound policy that allows us to know who is entering the country, while creating what I believe is a reasonable path to citizenship,” he said. “Unfortunately, my colleagues are more concerned with doing the former president’s bidding than the difficult work of legislating.”