The House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at cracking down on Mexican cartels’ use of tunnels underneath the southwestern border to smuggle illegal immigrants and illicit items the U.S.
The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 402 to 1 vote – with the lone dissenter being Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. Fox News Digital reached out to her office for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The bill is led by Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., but enjoys bipartisan support thanks to its lone Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif.
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It’s also backed by six other House Republicans, including Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee on border security.
The legislation, titled the Subterranean Border Defense Act, would direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to submit an annual report to Congress about cartels’ use of tunnels and how U.S. law enforcement was looking to combat it.
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“Since 1990, officials have discovered more than 140 tunnels that have breached the U.S. border with an 80% increase in tunnel activity occurring since 2008,” Crane said during debate on the bill. “With border crossings thankfully going down since January, I think it’s safe to assume this will drive threats to our border underground through these tunnels.”
Debate on the bill was brief on Monday afternoon, lasting less than 10 minutes. Just Correa and Crane spoke, with no lawmakers rising to oppose the bill.
“I believe this bill is an important step in the right direction,” Correa said.
He said the legislation if passed “will improve Congress’ efforts to counter illicit cross-border tunnels and hold bad actors accountable.”
It’s a rare show of bipartisanship in today’s House of Representatives, with Crane being known as one of the most conservative members of the House GOP.
House leaders held the vote under suspension of the rules, meaning the legislation was fast-tracked to a final House-wide vote in exchange for raising the threshold for passage from a simple majority to two-thirds.
It’s what House GOP leaders have done for critical legislation that is expected to receive wide bipartisan support.
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