Rick Scott slams opponent and ‘radical left’ support for including illegals in U.S. Census
TAMPA, Fla. – After all U.S. Senate Democrats voted in favor of including undocumented migrants in the U.S. Census Bureau count, Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott’s team said his Democratic opponent, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has “time and time again stood with illegal aliens over Floridians.”
“The people of Florida deserve to know if she would vote with all her Democrat colleagues to further make a mockery of our laws,” Scott spokesman Will Hampson said. “Her record of being a rubber stamp for Joe Biden should answer that for us.”
Scott’s team said President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the “radical left created this border crisis by enticing illegal aliens to enter our country.”
“Now they want to dilute the voting power of American citizens and give it to those who are in our country illegally,” Scott said.
Scott’s campaign announcement pointed to the U.S. being in the midst of the “worst border crises we’ve ever seen,” and said Democrats are voting to “actively entice illegal aliens to break into America.”
“In addition to wanting to give them amnesty, healthcare, and jobs that displace American workers, Democrats now want to entice them with political power,” the statement said.
U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., included an amendment in the $460 billion spending bill. The amendment sought to mandate the inclusion of a citizenship question in all upcoming census efforts conducted by the Census Bureau.
Additionally, it aimed to prohibit individuals who are not U.S. citizens from being counted for congressional districts and Electoral College apportionment purposes.
The effort by Senate Republicans was shot down Friday by every single Democrat, Fox News reported.
After the amendment was denied by Democrats, Hagerty released the following statement:
“Today I forced Chuck Schumer to hold a vote on whether illegal aliens should be counted for determining the number of congressional seats and electoral votes each state gets. Democrats’ unanimous opposition to this commonsense measure confirms that they’re using illegal aliens and sanctuary cities to increase their political power. With this vote, Senate Democrats chose to trample on the rights of each American’s voice. I will continue to fight and press this issue in the Senate.”
U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.
In response to Scott’s comments, Mucarsel-Powell’s spokesperson Lauren Chou told Florida’s Voice that Scott is “playing politics,” rather than “coming to the table to solve problems” as the campaign claimed Scott is “refusing to even consider the Customs and Border Patrol Union-endorsed bipartisan border deal.”
“His vote to leave our border unsecured is why ICE is currently underfunded and millions of high-tech scanners needed to spot fentanyl crossing our borders are stuck sitting in warehouses,” Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign said.
