One day after calling the border crisis “unacceptable,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) on Thursday became the first Senate Democrat to back the Laken Riley Act.
The Montana Democrat’s outspokenness on immigration issues comes as he faces a difficult re-election battle in a red state where his three previous electoral victories have been by narrow margins.
“Keeping Montana safe is my top priority, which is why I’ve repeatedly called on the Biden Administration and Congress to do more to secure the southern border and have worked to get the brave men and women in law enforcement what they need to keep criminals off our streets,” Tester said in a statement.
“After hearing from law enforcement officers across Montana, I’m backing the Laken Riley Act to make sure that individuals who enter our country and commit a crime are held accountable so that no Montana family has to worry about the safety of their loved ones,” he added.
The Laken Riley Act, which cleared the House of Representatives in March with the support of all House Republicans and 37 Democrats, would require migrants charged with theft or burglary to be detained by federal immigration authorities.
It would also mandate President Biden to reinstate the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy that forced asylum-seekers to wait for their immigration hearings south of the border and would allow state attorneys general to sue the secretary of Homeland Security if immigration actions — such as parole — harm a state or its citizens.
The bill is named after 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, whom authorities say was brutally murdered on Feb. 22 by Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal migrant who had several run-ins with law enforcement in the weeks leading up to Riley’s killing.
Several Republican senators have lined up to co-sponsor the measure but Tester, 67, is the only Democrat.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee accused Tester of “flip-flopping” in an election year, noting that he voted against the Laken Riley Act when it was offered as an amendment by Republicans in a bill to keep the government from shutting down earlier this year.
“Jon Tester voted against the Laken Riley Act,” the NRSC wrote on X. “His support for open borders is hurting his reelection campaign, so now he’s flip-flopping.”
“Voters can’t trust two-faced Tester,” the group said.
Tester’s support for the legislation followed a stern exchange with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing on Wednesday.
“Look, I’ve repeatedly called upon Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden and Congress to step up and fix what’s going on on the southern border,” the Montana Democrat said.
“It’s not sustainable at all and it’s unacceptable,” he added, before quizzing Austin on how much the Pentagon’s efforts at helping the Department of Homeland Security secure the southern border is eating away at the DoD’s budget.
“How does DoD cover these costs?” Tester asked the defense secretary, who responded that the costs associated with having troops on the border comes out of the Pentagon’s operational budget.
“Operationally, who gets shorted?” Tester probed.
Austin didn’t give a specific answer but acknowledged, “Of course, that means that there’s something else that we’re not doing because of that support.”
Tester then explained to Austin his belief that “the administration needs to do more to secure the border and we shouldn’t have to depend upon the military to do that.”
“I agree,” Austin responded.
Tester will likely face Republican Tim Sheehy in Montana’s Senate election in November.
Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and businessman, is backed by former President Donald Trump and has made border security and immigration one of his top issues.
“Tester’s flip-flop proves he only cares about another term in office,” Sheehy wrote on X in response to the senator’s support for the Laken Riley Act. “Most corrupt, TWO-FACED career politician in the nation!”
A March poll conducted by J.L. Partners showed Tester trailing Sheehy by three points.
Tester is the only Democratic member on Montana’s congressional delegation. The state also has a Republican governor and both chambers of the statehouse are GOP-controlled.
In 2006, Tester was elected to the Senate by a 0.9 percentage point margin. He did better in 2012, winning re-election by 3.7 percentage points, before falling back a bit in 2018, when he emerged victorious by only 3.5 percentage points.
Democrats currently have a 51-49 edge over Republicans in the upper chamber.