Republican Betrayal: 14 GOP Senators Fund Biden’s Refugee Machine

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Good Thursday morning, Patriots, and welcome back to O'Connor's Right Stand. I'm your host, John O'Connor, software programmer by day, conserved truth seeker by night. And we're just going to jump right on into this one. Patriots, I need to tell you about something that happened two weeks ago that should make every single Trump voter as furious as I am. And the reason I'm talking about it now is because while we were watching the Minnesota ice chaos unfold, over the past few weeks, this story got.

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buried. And I mean completely buried. Here's what happened. On January 9th, almost two weeks ago, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to allocate $5.7 billion in taxpayer-funded welfare for refugees. Let that number sink in. $5.7 billion. The vote was 26 to 3. So 14 Republicans voted yes. Today, we are breaking down exactly what this money funds.

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Why it's a complete betrayal of Trump's agenda, who these 14 senators are, how this money could actually be used to secure our border, and what you can do about it before this bill passes next week. This is the Swamp in Action Patriots, and we are naming names. The right stand starts now.

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Now before we get into the names, and trust me, we are naming every single one of these traders, let me give you the context that makes this so much worse. President Trump set the refugee cap for fiscal year 2026 at 7,500 people. That's the lowest in US history. It's a 94 % reduction from Biden's cap of 125,000. In all of 2025, Trump admitted exactly 59 refugees. 59.

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They were South Africans fleeing persecution in May, and then nothing. Radio silence for eight months. So riddle me this, if Trump is emitting virtually zero refugees, why on God's green earth are we funding a system built for 125,000? Here's the answer, and it's probably gonna make you sick, because the Senate Republicans, your Republicans, the ones who campaigned on fiscal responsibility and in America first,

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just voted to fund the infrastructure of refugee resettlement. They are keeping the entire bloated system alive. The NGOs, the resettlement agencies, the case managers, the cash assistance programs, all of it. And here's the kicker. This 5.7 billion is triple, triple what we spent on refugee programs before Biden took office. In fiscal year 2021, we spent 1.91 billion. Now,

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We're spending 5.7 billion for a program that Trump has essentially shut down. Let me be crystal clear about what this money funds because the Appropriations Committee report spells it out. $564 million goes to transitional and medical services. That's cash assistance to arriving refugees in foster care for unaccompanied minors. Another 300 million goes to refugee support services.

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The committee says this money is needed to maintain resettlement infrastructure and capacity. Infrastructure for what? We are not resettling anybody. This is like paying full salaries for factory workers when the factory is closed. Actually, no, it's worse than that because Trump didn't just close the factory. He wants it closed. This is his policy. And the Republican Senate just said, nah, we're going to keep paying to keep it open anyway.

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Now let's talk about who voted for this travesty, because you need to know their names. You need to remember them. And if they are your senator, you need to call their office tomorrow and ask them what the hell they were thinking. Here are the 14 Republicans who betrayed Trump. Susan Collins of Maine, committee chair, no surprise there. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the swamp creature. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, shocking absolutely no one. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

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Always talk stuff, always votes like a Democrat when it counts. Jerry Moran of Kansas. John Hoeven of North Dakota. John Bozeman of Arkansas. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. John Kennedy of Louisiana. Yeah, that John Kennedy. The one who does the folksy sound bites on Fox News while voting to fund Biden's refugee infrastructure apparently. Cindy Hyde Smith of Mississippi. Katie Britt of Alabama. Remember her? The rising star. Guess she rose right into that swamp.

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Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma, Deb Fisher of Nebraska, and Mike Rounds of South Dakota. 14 senators. 14. You know who voted no? Bill Haggerty of Tennessee. He was the only Republican on the committee to vote no. One out of 15 Republicans on the committee. Now, Mike Lee and Rand Paul both vocally opposed this bill. They sounded the alarm. They called it out. But here's the problem.

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Neither of them sits on the Appropriations Committee, so they couldn't vote. The system is designed so that the establishment Republicans control the purse strings, and the conservatives who actually represent you don't get a say. Let me ask you something. Do you think it's a coincidence that the people who control government spending are all swamp creatures? Do you think it's an accident that Susan Collins chairs this committee? That Mitch McConnell sits on it? That Lindsey Graham has a seat?

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This is how the game is rigged, folks. Trump can set all the policies he wants. He can reduce refugee emissions to near zero. He can freeze foreign aid. He can do everything right. And then the Republican Senate can just fund it anyway. They can keep the infrastructure alive, keep the NGOs fat and happy, keep the resettlement agency staffed and ready to go. So when they get a president who wants to restart mass refugee resettlement,

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All the infrastructure will be sitting there, ready to go, fully funded, fully staffed, ready to process 125,000 refugees a year. Your tax dollars maintaining a system Trump shut down so Democrats can restart it later. Does that make you angry? Because it should make you furious. Now let's talk about the Republican justification for this, because it's insulting. Their argument is that it's actually a cut from Biden's levels.

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See, Biden was spending $6.3 billion on this. Now it's only $5.7 billion. Wow, what a savings. So really they say this is fiscally responsible. Except that's not how math works when the program is shut down. If I close my gym membership but keep paying 90 % of the monthly fee, I'm not saving money, I'm being an idiot. And let's talk about timing. This vote happened on January 9th. The bill is part of the Labor and Health and Human Services Appropriations Package.

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Congress has until January 30th, that's a week from tomorrow, to pass the remaining appropriation bills or we get a government shutdown. So here's what's going to happen. This bill is going to get packaged up with other must pass legislation. It'll be in some massive omnibus or minibus spending package. And House Republicans will be told, vote yes or shut down the government and most of them will cave. Unless we make enough noise to stop it.

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Here's what you need to understand. This money doesn't have to go to refugee resettlement. Congress controls the purse strings. They could redirect these funds. They could take that $5.7 billion and use it for border security, ICE detention beds, deportation operations, immigration judges to process the asylum backlog, finishing the border wall, local law enforcement grants for states dealing with illegal immigration. You know, things that would actually help America instead of...

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funding refugee infrastructure we are not even using. Let me break down what that $5.7 billion could do if we spent it on actual border security and enforcement. ICE currently has about 34,000 detention beds. You know what it costs to add more detention capacity? About $200 per bed per day. With $5.7 billion, we could add 10,000 more beds and operate them for an entire year.

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That means 10,000 more criminal illegal aliens detained and awaiting deportation instead of being released into American communities. Or here's another option, ICE deportation flights. You know what a charter flight to deport illegal aliens costs? About $300,000 per flight, carrying about 130 people. Do the math. With 5.7 billion, we could fund 19,000 deportation flights.

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That's 2.5 million people deported. Or how about border wall construction? The remaining sections of Trump's border wall cost approximately $20 million per mile for the most advanced sections. With 5.7 billion, we could build 285 miles of completed border wall. Or immigration judges. We have a massive backlog in immigration courts. There are over three million pending cases.

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You know what an immigration judge costs per year, including salary and support staff? About $500,000. With $5.7 billion, we could hire 11,400 immigration judges for a full year and clear the backlog. Are you starting to see the picture here? That's what this money could do. That's the opportunity cost of funding a refugee program we are not even using. Think about it. Trump's DHS is

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begging for more funding for ICE operations. Secretary Kristi Noem is trying to expand detention capacity. They need money for deportation flights. They need resources to process the millions of illegal immigrants already here. And the Republican Senate just said, nope, we are spending 5.7 billion on refugees we're not even taking instead. It's insane. And here's the part that should make your blood boil. This is happening right after the Somali fraud scandals.

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You remember those, Daycare fraud in Minnesota, Medicaid fraud, Somalis running schemes to milk taxpayers out of millions. That's what refugee resettlement money funds. That's where it goes. When you give cash assistance to refugees, when you fund these NGOs with no oversight, when you pour billions into integration services, this is what you get. Fraud, waste, abuse. And the Republican Senate just voted to keep funding it.

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Now I want to address something directly. Some of you might be thinking, but John, shouldn't we help refugees? Isn't that the compassionate thing to do? Well, here's my answer. Compassion is not writing blank checks with other people's money for programs we don't even use. Compassion is not maintaining a massive government infrastructure that Trump explicitly shut down. And compassion is not keeping NGOs on the federal payroll when they are not serving America's interests. You want to help refugees?

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Great, start a charity, donate your own money, volunteer your own time, but don't reach into my pocket and tell me it's compassion. And let's talk about priorities for a second, because that's what this really comes down to. We have American citizens who are struggling. We have veterans sleeping on the streets. We have families in East Palestine, Ohio, still dealing with the toxic water from that train derailment. We have American communities devastated by fentanyl that's pouring across our southern border.

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We have working families who can't afford groceries because of inflation. But the Senate just voted to spend 5.7 billion on people who aren't even coming here. Ask yourself this. When was the last time Susan Collins fought this hard to get $5.7 billion for American veterans? When was the last time Lindsey Graham demanded billions in emergency funding for American families struggling with inflation? When was the last time any of these 14 senators showed this much concern

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for American citizens? I'll wait. The answer is never or seldom. They don't fight for you, they don't fight for American workers or American families or American communities. But they will trip over themselves to fund refugee resettlement infrastructure we are not even using. Why? Because there's no lobby for struggling American families. There's no massive NGO network demanding money for veterans. But there is a refugee resettlement lobby.

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and they donate to campaigns and they have influence in Washington. That's the game. And you are losing it. And let's be honest about what's really happening here. These refugee resettlement agencies, groups like Church World Service, HIAS, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, they are lobbying operations. They exist to bring in refugees because that's how they get federal grants. More refugees equals more funding.

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equals bigger salaries for their executives. When Trump froze refugee funding in early 2025, these organizations had layoffs. They furloughed staff because without the federal money spigot, they can't sustain themselves. They don't have enough private donations to operate at current levels. They need government funding. And now the Republican Senate just gave it to them. Let me tell you what the smart play would have been.

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the smart play would have been to zero out refugee resettlement funding. Completely. Take all 5.7 billion and redirect it to border security and interior enforcement. That's what Trump voters wanted. That's what Trump's policy demands. But that would require courage. That would require actually standing up to NGOs in the refugee lobby and the establishment. And these 14 Republicans don't have that courage. You know what they are afraid of?

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They are afraid of being called heartless by the New York Times. They are afraid of CNN running sob stories about refugees. They are afraid of Chuck Schumer will give a speech on the Senate floor calling them cruel. So instead of doing the right thing, they split the baby. They compromise. They fund the program at 90 % of Biden levels and call it a cut. And Trump gets undermined again. Here's a question for you. Why do we keep electing these people?

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Why do Lisa Murkowski and Lindsey Graham keep winning Republican primaries? I'll tell you why. Because too many Republican voters vote on name recognition and incumbency instead of actually paying attention to what these people do. They hear Lindsey Graham talk tough on Fox News and think he's a conservative. They don't bother to check his voting record. But here's what I want you to think about. When Lindsey Graham goes on Hannity and talks about border security, does that match his votes?

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When he's calling for tough immigration enforcement on TV and then voting to fund refugee resettlement we're not even using, what does that tell you? It tells you he's performing for you. He's giving you the rhetoric you want to hear while doing the exact opposite when the cameras are off and the votes actually matter. And here's the question every single voter needs to ask. Would you rather have someone who talks like a conservative or someone who votes like one?

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Because right now in the Senate Republican caucus, you are getting a lot of talk and very little action. Well, here it is. In black and white, when it mattered, when Trump needed the Senate to back his refugee policy with the power of the purse, 14 Republicans said no. And before you say, well, at least it's not as bad as Democrats. Stop. That's loser talk. That's how we got here. At least we're not as bad as Democrats.

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is the battle cry of the controlled opposition. We should expect more from Republicans. We should demand more. And when they fail us this badly, we should primary them. Katie Britt is up for re-election in 2028. So is Lindsey Graham. So is Deb Fischer, Mike Rounds, and Shelley Moore Capito. Mark them on your calendars. Remember this vote and support anyone who primaries them. Because this is what's at stake.

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Either the Republican party is the party of Trump's America First agenda, or it's the party of Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell managing America's decline at a slightly slower pace than the Democrats. You can't have it both ways. Now let me talk about what happens next. This bill still has to pass the full Senate. Then it has to pass the House. Then it has to get signed by Trump. Will Trump veto it? I don't know. It depends on what else is in the package.

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If they bundle this refugee funding with defense spending and disaster relief, Trump might feel like he has to sign it. That's how these OmniBus bills work. They hold popular stuff hostage to pass unpopular stuff. But here's what you can do. You can call your senators, call your House member, tell them no funding for refugee resettlement. Not 5.7 billion, not five million, zero. Tell them to redirect that money to ICE, to border security.

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to deportation operations, to things that actually make America safer. And if your senator is one of those 14, tell them you're done. Tell them they just lost your vote. Tell them you're supporting their primary challenger, whoever that turns out to be. Because that's the only way this changes. That's the only way we get a Republican party that actually represents Republican voters instead of the donor class in the NGO lobby. Let me end with this thought.

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Every single one of those 14 senators will go back to their states and brag about being fiscally conservative. They'll talk about cutting waste. They'll rail against government spending. They'll campaign on Trump's endorsement if he gives it to him. And they just voted to spend $5.7 billion on a refugee program we are not even using. That's not fiscal conservatism. That's not America First. That's not even basic competence. That's betrayal, plain and simple, and we need to remember it.

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Patriots, it's time for me to bring this home. On January 9th, 14 Republican senators voted to allocate $5.7 billion to fund refugee resettlement infrastructure that President Trump has shut down. They are maintaining a system built for 125,000 refugees when Trump is emitting virtually zero. This isn't fiscal conservatism. This isn't America First. This is the swamp protecting itself.

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Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Lisa Murkowski. These are the people who run the Republican Party, and they just told you exactly where their loyalties lie. Not with Trump, not with you, with the establishment. But here's what matters. This bill still has to pass the full Senate and the House. The deadline is January 30th, that's a week from tomorrow, which means you have time to stop it. Call your senators, call your House member, tell them,

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No funding for refugee resettlement. Redirect that $5.7 billion to border security, ICE operations, deportations. And if your senator is one of those 14, tell them they just lost your vote. Because that's the only way this changes. That's the only way we get a Republican party that represents us instead of the donor class. The rule of law only works if we enforce it. And right now, these 14 senators think they can betray Trump and get away with it. Prove them wrong.

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Well, hit that subscribe, follow, and or like button wherever you're listening. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Rumble, whatever your platform choice is. Check out O'Connor's Quick Strike on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for rapid fire news. This podcast drops on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Find me on X at O'Connor Podcasts. Share this episode. Get the conversation going. Have a great rest of your day, Patriots. Until Tuesday, hold the line unapologetically. This is John O'Connor, signing off.