Exclusive: Sen. John Cornyn Raises ‘Serious Concerns’ with Senate Immigration Deal

UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 24: Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, attends the Senate Select Intellig
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/POOL
Matthew Boyle
Washington, DC

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has “serious concerns” with the Senate’s just-introduced immigration plan, he told Breitbart News through a spokesperson on Monday morning.

“Now that I have seen text, I have questions and serious concerns,” Cornyn said in a statement to this outlet.

Cornyn’s comment did not say straight up he would oppose or vote for the bill, as Breitbart News had asked his spokesperson, but the fact he’s now publicly raising “serious concerns” with the plan from Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) likely bodes badly for getting him to support it in the end.

Cornyn’s decision to now raise questions and concerns with the plan is a reversal of sorts for him too, as he previously was cheering on Lankford during the negotiations saying as Breitbart News previously reported that the GOP had “unique leverage” in the process.

Now that the bill text was released on Sunday night though, and it’s as House Speaker Mike Johnson said in his statement “worse than we expected,” Cornyn seems to be reading the room and moving back the other away against it. But it remains to be seen if he will vote against it, but the initial reaction from him to it seems to suggest that he would vote no.

Cornyn is also likely trying to keep alive any possible bid for Senate GOP leader when the day comes to replace the longtime Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. Cornyn is frequently talked about as a possible replacement, alongside Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and John Thune (R-SD).

Thune has likewise been supportive of Lankford during the negotiations process but has not signaled where he is on this now that the bill text is out and it’s as Johnson noted “worse” than reported before.

Barrasso, though, has been very critical of this throughout the process and is expected to join most Republicans in opposition.

McConnell, though, has been very supportive of Lankford throughout the process and is expected to support the deal. Whatever happens in the Senate, though, Johnson has made clear that this bill is dead on arrival and will never receive a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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