US Senator Cruz Says Negotiators Refusing to Provide Lawmakers With Border Deal Text

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Senate negotiators working on a border security deal will not provide lawmakers the text of the proposed agreement, Senator Ted Cruz said on Monday.

"I haven’t read the bill and there’s a reason: nobody’s read the bill. They won’t actually give us the text," Cruz said during an interview with Fox News. "If you’re hiding the text, it means it’s even worse than people think it is."

Negotiators have only provided lawmakers with general "bullet points" about the potential deal, Cruz said. The deal would allow 5,000 migrants into the United States every day, totaling approximately 1.8 million per year, he said.

Any president willing to enforce existing immigration laws does not need further legislation to secure the border, Cruz said.

On Saturday, US House Speaker Mike Johnson likewise said that President Joe Biden does not need new legislation from Congress to begin securing the border. Johnson also said that the United States has "already been surrendered" if 1.8 million migrants are allowed to enter yearly, as is purportedly authorized under the proposed deal.

However, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday insisted that Biden requires new authorities from Congress to begin securing the border, when asked about Johnson’s stance.