{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=129A31AF-3B48-4960-B968-8333AF0E135B", "Graham Encourages Texas Governor To Send Illegal Immigrants To States Where Senators Oppose Closing Asylum Loopholes", "2023-11-30", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "SC", "Lindsey Graham", "G000359", "www.lgraham.senate.gov", "graham", "https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today encouraged Texas Governor Greg Abbott to send illegal immigrants to states whose Senators are opposed to closing loopholes in our asylum laws. Graham has long warned that these loopholes are incentivizing and leading to the massive invasion we see at our southern border.\n\nTexas Governor Abbott has already sent thousands of illegal immigrants to New York City in an effort to spread the burden, which has disproportionately fallen on border states like Texas.\n\nGraham said:\n\n\u201cYesterday, ten Democratic senators came out against closing loopholes in our immigration, parole and asylum laws which are a magnet for illegal immigration. Those senators don\u2019t know or feel what it is like to live with a broken border.\n\n\u201cPeople in Texas have gone through a lot of hell and misery. The Democratic position is for illegal immigrants coming to the country to \u2018Remain in Texas.\u2019 That is wrong and unfair. Governor Abbott was right to send illegal immigrants to New York City and he should expand that program.\n\n\u201cIf I were advising Governor Abbott, I would encourage him to start sending the thousands of illegal immigrants - who show up daily in Texas - to these states. It\u2019s time these states, and their elected senators, understand what it is like to live with a broken border.\n\n\u201cThe senators from these states oppose legislation to stop this problem because they are not suffering from the consequences of this problem. At the end of the day, until you can make this problem real in some of these blue states, a lot of people are going to have this attitude.\n\n\u201cMy hope is that Governor Abbott will show the people in places like Rhode Island, Oregon and Connecticut the experience of having your community overrun with people not here legally. Governor Abbott\u2019s plan started changing views in New York City. It will change views in these states as well.\u201d\n\n#####\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nWashington Examiner:\n\nGraham tells Abbott: Send \u2018busloads\u2019 of immigrants to senators who \u2018oppose border security\u2019\n\nFox News Interview with John Roberts: https://youtu.be/WoAV0BUv9Rg\n\nFox News Interview with Sean Hannity: https://youtu.be/vx63l8U0ehA\n\n####", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=129A31AF-3B48-4960-B968-8333AF0E135B"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0105040855705738, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}