Lankford claps back at Musk over border bill, says he should focus on recalled Teslas
Elon Musk claims the bipartisan border security deal will enable illegal immigrants to vote
There is a ‘tremendous amount’ of money to secure the US border: Sen. James Lankford
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., reacts to the Senate’s controversial border security package arguing that the deal is not about letting 5,000 people into the country every day.
The lead Republican negotiator for the Senate border security bill, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., pushed back on criticisms of the deal lobbed by billionaire Elon Musk.
In an interview on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" Monday, Lankford said Musk's claim that the goal of the border security bill is to let illegal immigrants vote is "absurd" and that the Tesla CEO should focus on his recalled electric vehicles.
"The long-term goal of the so-called ‘Border Security’ bill is enabling illegals to vote!" Musk wrote in a post on X on Monday. "It will do the total opposite of securing the border."
Lankford flatly rejected Musk's assertion and suggested the billionaire pay more attention to the 2.2 million Tesla vehicles recently recalled because of incorrect font size on warning lights.
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Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford waits outside the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. Lankford worked on a Ukraine funding and border security deal released Sunday that has been panned by conservatives. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"I think he needs to go back to doing the 2 million Teslas that are currently being recalled right now to be able to focus on that," Lankford said. "No, it's not focused on trying to be able to get more illegals to vote. That's absurd."
Musk has become increasingly outspoken on the illegal immigration crisis on X.
In several posts on Saturday, Musk called out an advantage that blue states have over red states in elections because of how non-citizens are counted for representation in congressional districts and the Electoral College.
"Most people in America don’t know that the census is based on a simple headcount of people (including illegals) not just citizens," Musk wrote Saturday. "This shifts political power and money to states and Congressional districts with the highest number of illegals."
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticized the bipartisan border security package as a vehicle to let illegal immigrants vote. (Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
He followed up with his remarks on Monday after the text of the bipartisan border security package was released by Lankford and the other negotiators.
The border proposal, which would be attached to a $118 billion national security supplemental package with aid for Israel and Ukraine, seeks to overhaul the border with tougher and quicker enforcement.
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Asylum-seeking migrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing from Mexico at a makeshift camp next to the U.S. border wall on Dec. 13, 2023 in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The bill's provisions come into effect when there is an average of 5,000 or more daily encounters with illegal immigrants over a seven-day period or, alternatively, when a combined total of 8,500 or more migrants are encountered on any single calendar day. The calculation considers encounters at southwest land border ports, ports along southern coastal borders and at a southwest land border port of entry.
Conservatives have slammed the bill as too lenient, arguing the 5,000 daily encounters threshold sets an unacceptable floor for illegal immigration before the enforcement mechanisms trigger.
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Lankford defended the bill from its critics and flatly rejected Musk's claim.
"It is against the law for anyone that is not a citizen of the United States to be able to vote in the United States in any federal election. That remains so. Obviously, we're not dealing with that," the Oklahoma lawmaker said.
Fox News Digital's Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.