Republican Sen. Cory Gardner supports funding for border security but said ending the partial government shutdown is more important.
“I don’t think shutting down the government is the right idea. We would’ve funded border security, and we can fight for more later,” Gardner said. “I think it’s important to fight for more, but I think shutting down the government is the wrong approach.”
The government has been partially closed since Dec. 22, when Democrats refused President Donald Trump’s $5 billion border-security funding request.
In Colorado, the partial shutdown has strained federal lands, including Rocky Mountain National Park and Colorado National Monument.
While the senator is willing to accept less than the president’s desired $5 billion, Gardner said he still supported Trump’s fight for a larger slice of border security funding.
“I think the president is right to continue to fight for border security funding,” he said.
Gardner is up for re-election in 2020.
Democrats assumed control of the House of Representatives on Thursday, led by newly elected Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with a pledge to push through a package of bills to reopen the government.
Gardner said he had not yet seen language for the House funding bills.
The Republican senator acknowledged that his constituents could be angered by the shutdown and have varying opinions on what to do at the U.S.-Mexico border. He reiterated his support for a reinforced border – just not yet.
“But what I think is right for the people of Colorado is to make sure that we have a strong border, that we have immigration laws that work, that we do so in a way that allows for legal immigration to flourish and continue in this country, and do so in a way that maintains competence in government,” he said.
Meanwhile, border authorities are struggling with outdated facilities ill-equipped to handle the growing increase in family migrants, resulting in immigrants being released onto the streets every day. The immigration court system is so clogged that some wait years for their cases to be resolved, and lacks funding to pay for basic things like in-person translators. An increase in sick children arriving at the border is putting a strain on medical resources.
But the Washington debate has focused almost exclusively on the $5 billion in wall spending that Trump wants. Other proposals being discussed keep the rest of the Homeland Security department funding at existing levels.
“The wall is a tool. Unfortunately even if it’s implemented across the border it isn’t a solution to all the problems,” said Victor M. Manjarrez, a former Border Patrol sector chief with 20 years of experience, now a professor at the University of Texas-El Paso.
Trump has suggested migrants won’t bother to come if he gets his way, making other immigration issues less problematic. Walls and fencing currently blanket about one-third of the border – mostly built under President George W. Bush – and Trump wants to extend and fortify them. But contracting, designing and building wall systems could take years.
Trump met Friday with Congressional leaders who said the president threatened the shutdown could go on for “years.” Trump later said he’d considered using executive authority to get a wall built on the border.
“You can call it a barrier, you can call it whatever you want,” Trump said a day earlier, flanked by immigration union heads. “But essentially we need protection in our country. We’re going to make it good. The people of our country want it.”
On Thursday, the House passed a bill to fund the government without the $5 billion. Pelosi called the wall an “immorality.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
