Nearly a third of Senate Republicans ask their leaders to not finalize an agreement on border security with President Joe Biden, and other Democrats, without allowing the members to review it.

The 15 GOP members wrote a letter to Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) on Sunday, asking for a meeting with all Senate Republicans as soon as possible, no later than January 8, when the House reconvenes.

The GOP senators wrote to Barrasso that “hurried and secret negotiations with Democrats, who want an open-border and who have caused the current crises will not secure our border.”

Barrasso’s spokeswoman told The Daily Signal in a statement on Monday that “Chairman Barrasso has received requests from 15 colleagues to hold a conference on immigration.” He will schedule the meeting with all Republican Senators.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) was appointed as the GOP’s point person to negotiate with Senate Democrats a border deal. This deal would be part a larger agreement to fund border safety within a national spending bill that provides U.S. funding for both Ukraine’s defence against Russia and Israel’s war with Hamas.

The House Republicans has passed funding bills for Israel and border security.

In a statement released on Sunday, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), one of 15 Republicans who signed this letter, stated that “the fact that President Biden, and the Democratic Congress, are the cause of the crisis [at southern border] poses a serious problem for conducting negotiations in good faith with them.”

Other GOP senators that signed the letter include: J.D. Vance of Ohio; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Tommy Tuberville of Alabama; Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt of Missouri; Ted Budd of North Carolina; Jim Risch of Idaho; Roger Marshall of Kansas; Ted Cruz of Texas; Mike Braun of Indiana; and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Vance, Marsha Blackburn, Tommy Tuberville and Eric Schmitt from Missouri; Josh Hawley of Idaho; Roger Marshall and Josh Hawley of Kansas; Ted Budd and Ted Cruz of North Carolina; Jim Risch and Jim Risch in Idaho; Roger Marshall and Eric Schmitt from Kansas; Ted Cruz and Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Braun and Lindsey Graham are the other GOP senators who signed the letter.

Johnson stated that it was impossible to trust Biden to follow through on any agreement he made because he had not executed the law faithfully, lied to the public repeatedly, violated Supreme Court decisions, and ignored them. He also failed to engage in meaningful border negotiations until recently. “That is a major challenge for Republican negotiators.”

Johnson said that he also appreciated Lankford’s efforts. However, he added: “Whatever the negotiators present will need to fully be vetted and discussed by members and general public in order for them to understand it.”