Republican Chip Roy says Trump failed to ‘close the border’ during every year of his presidency

Republican Rep Chip Roy, known for his blunt speaking in the House of Representatives, served up a fact-check to Donald Trump concerning the southern border with Mexico and the flow of migrants.

Speaking after apparent the collapse of the bipartisan border bill, negotiated in the Senate, Mr Roy, who represents the 21st District of Texas between San Antonio and Austin, called out those who claim that no legislation is needed.

Opponents of the bill claim that the president already has the power to deal with the border and even order it closed — something that they claim Joe Biden is refusing to do.

One of the most vocal critics of the bill — credited with tanking the legislation by calling around to loyalist lawmakers to persuade them to vote against it despite Republicans specifically asking for such legislation — is Mr Trump.

Speaking in the lower chamber of Congress on Tuesday, Rep Roy specifically called out the former president.

“We’re not going to just pass the buck and say any president can just walk in and secure the border,” he said. “I saw former president Trump make that allegation earlier today on one of his social media posts. All a president has to do is declare the border is closed, and it’s closed. Well, with all due respect, that didn’t happen in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.”

He added: “There were millions of people that came into the United States during those four years.”

Mr Trump has posted on Truth Social earlier in the day: “ALL A PRESIDENT HAS TO DO IS SAY, ‘CLOSE THE BORDER,’ AND THE BORDER WILL BE CLOSED. A COSTLY NEW BILL IS NOT NECESSARY!”

Conservative Republicans came out staunchly against a bipartisan agreement to restrict immigration and put in place additional border security resources in