Sherrod Brown Backs Border Crackdown Now But Voters Know Better
Republicans are turning up the heat on Democrat Sherrod Brown after he said he supports “closing the border” in a recent interview, arguing the Ohio Senate hopeful is trying to rewrite a long record on illegal immigration just days before the state’s primary election.
“I support closing the border to people so they just can’t cross the border at will, but I also say we, of course, should be deporting people that have committed a crime, surely,” Brown said last month. That comment quickly drew attention because Brown spent years voting against many of the border and enforcement measures that Republicans say were needed to protect the country.
Brown served three Senate terms before losing in 2024 to Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio. Now he is trying to climb back into Washington, this time in a race that is already expected to be a major battleground. Immigration is once again at the center of the fight.
According to Republicans, Brown’s record tells a very different story from his latest remarks. During his years in Congress and the Senate, he voted multiple times to protect federal money for sanctuary cities. He also co-sponsored the 2019 End Mass Deportation Act, which aimed to roll back Trump-era enforcement priorities and cut off funding tied to sanctuary policies.
GOP critics point to other votes as well. Brown voted against giving ICE “sufficient resources to detain and deport a higher number of illegal aliens who have been convicted of a crime.” He also voted against funding aimed at stopping criminal aliens from getting amnesty and voted against money for deporting criminal aliens back in 2001.
Brown has also been a repeated critic of the southern border wall. He has called the idea “stupid,” “wrong” and “ludicrous,” and he voted to cancel Trump’s border wall projects in 2021 and against restarting construction in 2023. Republicans say that adds up to a clear pattern, not a sudden shift.
He also voted against $300 million for U.S. Customs and Border Protection for opioid and narcotic detection at the southern border, along with funding to relocate illegal aliens to Democrat-led sanctuary cities and states.
The Brown campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, the race is heating up fast. Jon Husted, who was appointed to Vice President JD Vance’s Senate seat at the start of the second Trump administration, is now gearing up for a hard-fought general election. His team says voters are ready for a sharp change in direction.
“This November, Ohioans will have a clear choice between the past and the future,” Husted campaign manager Drew Thompson told Signal Cleveland, which reported a $1 million ad campaign for his Senate race this week, despite running unopposed in the primary. “Jon Husted is getting an early start by taking his story directly to voters who are ready for a fresh, common-sense approach in Washington.”
Thompson also said, “Brown’s 32-year record of voting for sanctuary cities and illegal immigration will come back to haunt him in the state.” The campaign later added, “After shocking Ohioans in 2024 by claiming he only hears about illegal immigration from the far Right, Sherrod Brown is now desperate to return to Washington and continue the same Biden-era open border policies he supported for 32 years,” the statement read. “Jon Husted, on the other hand, is working to clean up Sherrod Brown’s mess by funding border security, supporting border agents, and standing for the rule of law.”
Ohio is one of several Senate races expected to draw serious money and national attention. Republicans believe immigration will stay near the top of the list for voters who want tougher enforcement and a more secure border.
“Sherrod Brown’s lies aren’t going to trick Ohioans,” NRSC regional press secretary Nick Puglia said in a statement. “They know Brown has fought for over half a century alongside liberals like Kamala Harris to open our borders and protect dangerous criminal illegals from deportation.”