There’s no question that this Congress is one of the most ineffective in history. The Senate is broken, and it’s because of extremists like Rick Scott who put partisan politics before delivering for the people who elected them. It’s past time to hold him accountable for refusing to keep Floridians safe in the name of scoring cheap political points.
Over the last few months, senators on both sides of the aisle have worked tirelessly to negotiate a historic bipartisan border deal that would take major first steps toward addressing the crisis at our borders. If this law went into effect four months ago, almost all of the nearly one million people who crossed the border since then would have been deported. It would also have provided much-needed support for overwhelmed border patrol agents and modernized our security systems.
Notably, this bipartisan compromise would have provided critically necessary funding that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency needs to continue to operate. Thanks to Scott, our Customs and Border Patrol and ICE agencies are still without support. Because Scott tanked essential funds in the bipartisan border deal, ICE is now preparing to release thousands of detainees and cut detention levels by the tens of thousands.
Scott had the opportunity to come to the table and work on this bill in December alongside Republicans and Democrats, and he refused. Instead, he spent months opposing the compromise before the deal was even finalized.
In the face of questions from Bloomberg the other week, Scott couldn’t justify putting partisan politics before our national security. That’s because his decision to vote against border security and put a stop to critical aid that would curb Russian and Chinese interests is unjustifiable. While Scott couldn’t answer easy questions about why his do-nothing policy toward border security was better than a bill that the Customs and Border Patrol Union had endorsed, I can answer for him: It’s not.
Because while Scott plays political games with our safety and our national security, Putin, China and our adversaries in the Middle East are benefitting. From his refusal to compromise, to his disdain for bipartisanship, to his reckless disregard for the safety of Floridians, Scott is unfit and undeserving of representing our state in the U.S. Senate.
Now, he’s working with extremists in the House of Representatives to stop a bipartisan foreign aid package that would provide essential aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan over demands for a border security deal — never mind the fact that the Senate has already delivered on this.
If you’re feeling a sense of deja vu right now, you’re not alone. Because of extremists like Scott, Congress is back where it was four months ago, trying to pass essential aid that would support Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan in their fights for democracy. His self-serving approach to governing is the reason Washington is so dysfunctional. Scott has worked harder to further the gridlock in Washington than he has to deliver border security for America.
This “my way or the highway” approach is rooted in the fact that Scott doesn’t care about supporting border patrol agents or protecting our borders. That’s because he would rather use this immigration crisis as a tool to score political points in an election year. But Floridians deserve better than a self-serving senator whose only priorities are in furthering his own interests. We deserve border and immigration reform now. We deserve a senator who will stand up to Putin and China. We deserve a leader who will put the well-being of working families and our communities before his own reelection interests.
It’s time to elect a senator who will show up and work with anyone to deliver for Floridians — regardless of what political party they’re from. It’s time to elect a senator who is more focused on being a part of the solutions in this country — not one who fuels the problems. I’m ready to come to the table and deliver for Floridians. I’m ready to have these conversations in English and in Spanish to meet every voter where they are, and if Rick Scott is ready to get serious about the issues that matter with Floridians, I invite him to debate with me.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is a proud mother, Latina and immigrant running to be Florida’s next U.S. senator. She previously served as the first South American immigrant in Congress.
