Why Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is shunning the BS revival of her bipartisan border bill

U.S. Senate leadership is reviving the single most important piece of border security and immigration legislation produced in decades.

And the person most responsible for hammering out the details and fashioning a bipartisan agreement that actually confronts the major issues and offers practical solutions — Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema — is … a no-show.

I don’t blame her one bit.

Just the opposite.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced this week that he would bring back for a vote the bipartisan bill negotiated by Sinema, along with Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma.

Schumer wants to find 'serious-minded Republicans'

Schumer said in a letter to senators, “We are hopeful this bipartisan proposal will bring serious-minded Republicans back to the table to advance this bipartisan solution for our border.”

He knows that won’t happen.

The bill died after former President Donald Trump told Republicans not to pass it because he needs a border crisis to campaign on.

Immigrants aren't 'invading' Arizona: Stop this false narrative

So Republicans in the House — Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs among the most vocal — declared the border bill dead on arrival.

Sinema worked hard to debunk the lies spread about the bill, but that didn’t stop the liars from continuing to spread them.

And Trump knew that his MAGA followers wouldn’t question those lies or bother to actually read the bill, which was readily available.

It didn’t even matter to MAGA that the National Border Patrol Council endorsed Sinema’s bill.

Sinema already called out the border crisis posers

Sinema spoke to all that — many times — earlier this year.

In the end, however, the liars and the posers won. And while it’s worthwhile to bring the bill to another vote, if only to remind people of how actual solutions get crushed in Washington by petty politics, there’s no chance the bill will pass.

So, Sinema is nowhere to be seen. And good on her. She knows what she calls “performative partisanship” when she sees it.

What she said on the Senate floor in February still applies. Back then she confronted the untruths with blunt honesty, saying in part:

“So if you want to spin the border crisis for your own political agendas, go right ahead. If you want to continue to use the southern border as a backdrop for your political campaign, that’s fine — good luck to you.

“But I have a very clear message for anyone using the southern border for staged political events: Don’t come to Arizona; take your political theater to Texas. Do not bring it to my state.”

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kyrsten Sinema is right to shun the BS revival of her border bill