"I'm gonna do anything I can to marginally improve the situation at the border," Barr insisted.
READ MORE: 'There’s no evidence': Experts debunk Trump’s claims of 'migrant crime' wave in US cities
"On that note about, perhaps, doing something that would improve the situation even if it's not perfect," Sanchez replied, "I want to compare what's in this spending bill to that bipartisan bill that Republican Senator James Lankford (R-OK) put out last month.
“That one would have actually provided more funding for border security. It would include more than half a billion dollars for the border wall, which is something that Republicans have demanded. It would have funded 50,000 detention beds as opposed to 40,000. On top of that, it would have expedited deportations, cracked down on asylum claims, limited humanitarian parole — also allowed the president to shut down the border of crossings past a certain number.
“And it would have provided $60 billion in funding for Ukraine, which it badly needs right now. Why support this bill, when that bill went so much further and did so many things that Republicans have been asking for, for a long time?"
Barr commented, "Valid and legitimate question, Boris, but what you failed to mention in that list of very positive reforms and including the Ukraine assistance that I support — what it also included was codifying the illegal crossings. That so-called bipartisan border bill or immigration reform bill, also provided $7 billion dollars to sanctuary jurisdictions, that would be a huge, additional magnet for illegal migration. That's not what we need right now."
The CNN host shot back, "The bill didn't codify allowing illegal crossings. It set a threshold of undocumented crossings that would have allowed the executive to say shut down the border right now. That's very different than saying we're going to allow us through. That's a different interpretation of what [the package] did. And I'm citing Senator Lankford’s own words, who described this as the 'most conservative immigration package put forward in a generation.'"
The Kentucky lawmaker commented, "Look, James is a friend, and he's a good man, and he is well-intentioned in what he tried to do. But his hands were tied because he was negotiating with open border people who support amnesty. The problem we have in that bill was that it put in federal law an amount of illegal crossings that simply does not exist in current law."
READ MORE: This 'brazen' MAGA congressman is saying 'the quiet part out loud'
Sanchez disagreed, saying, "The idea that he wanted to negotiate with people that were asking for amnesty — that bill didn't contain anything related to amnesty. Democrats essentially conceded, and they gave Republicans what they wanted without a pathway to citizenship."
Barr insisted, "Boris, it had 7 billion dollars for amnesty jurisdictions. You're just wrong. That's not true. That bill would be a magnet for more illegal immigration. And look, what we need is HR.2. What we need is border security. We need to reinstitute the successful policies of the Trump administration. We need to finish the border wall. We need to remain in Mexico. We need the migrant protection protocols. We need to end this disastrous catch and release that resulted in the murder of Laken Riley and others.
Sanchez shot back, "That bill would have done that, sir. That bill would have ended the parole program."
The GOP lawmaker said, "The American people are sick and tired of this administration's dangerous policy that's resulted in 300 individuals on the terror watchlist apprehended at the southern border under his watch. And how many 'gotaways' — we don't even know, 1.8 million 'gotaways' that the border patrol has identified. That doesn't even count the number of individuals who they haven't even detected. Americans are dying of fentanyl overdoses. The cartels are exploiting the southern border. The Chinese communist party is working with the cartels to exploit this. Kentuckians are dying and at record levels because of fentanyl coming across our southern border. This is a crisis that every American, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, it's totally unacceptable what is happening at the southern border. And it's a homeland security, national security crisis. It's a crime crisis, and — you know what? It could be fixed overnight if this president actually wanted to secure the border. And he clearly does not."
READ MORE: Speaker Johnson using ban on LGBTQ Pride flags to sell critical funding bill
Sanchez added, "I think any executive action that he might take to shut down the border or to take steps that [former President] Donald Trump I'm took would be blocked by federal courts, as the steps that Donald Trump took actually were blocked by federal courts. It is very hard to say that all of the issues caused by immigration are just on [President] Joe Biden, when they've been happening for a generation, sir."
"Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” said Barr.
“Why is it, though, if that's true, if the executive actions don't make any difference and the courts really intervene, why is it that illegal crossings are so much higher today under Joe Biden than they were under President Trump?"
Sanchez said, "I'm not disagreeing with you on the question of whether the executive orders have been effective. It's clear that they haven't, the numbers aren't trending in that direction. But some of the more extreme executive orders that Republicans have demanded that the White House take, just like with President Trump, they would have gotten blocked by a federal court."
The Republican congressman insisted, "No they wouldn't have. That's not true."
Sanchez said, "Ok. Former President Trump and executive orders that he pushed forward — that same judge would have done the same thing to Joe Biden. In fact, I'm pretty sure he did when it came to certain specific policies wrapped around remain in Mexico. Nevertheless, Congressman Andy Barr, I look forward to picking up this conversation with you in the future. There's a lot to talk about. We appreciate your time, sir."
READ MORE: 'Unheard of': Dem rep warns Johnson could cause 'continuing resolution for entire year'
