Before ultimately voting for the Republican tax-reform plan on Saturday, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) had warned that its impact on the national debt might cost his GOP colleagues his support.

His statement explaining his decision to vote “yes,” however, suggests that concerns over the rising debt take a back seat to concerns about illegal immigrants.

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Flake said in a statement that he would vote for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act because Senate leaders promised, among other things, to work with him on a permanent amnesty for people who soon will lose the quasi-amnesty granted under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

DACA opponents ripped Flake’s rationale.

“If Jeff Flake is going to support a tax bill he thinks is bad to get amnesty for illegal aliens, that says something about Jeff Flake right there,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

In the weeks leading up to the vote, Flake complained about projections that the tax legislation would add to the debt, which currently stands at about $20 trillion. At times, he suggested he would vote “no” without major changes.

Related: Trump: Tax Cuts Will Be ‘Rocket Fuel’ for Economy

“I remain concerned over how the current tax reform proposals will grow the already staggering national debt by opting for short-term fixes while ignoring long-term problems for taxpayers and the economy,” he said in a statement earlier in November.

Flake and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) pushed for a “trigger” that would reimpose some taxes if economic growth did not hit certain targets.

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“That’s a backstop which would protect the debt and deficit,” Flake said last week on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.”

But the Senate parliamentarian ruled the trigger proposal out of bounds. Corker voted “no.” Flake voted “yes.” He did get one minor concession on the tax bill. A provision allowing businesses to write off the cost of new equipment will phase out over five years rather than end immediately. Without the change, he argued, Congress would have been pressured to extend the tax break and add to the debt.

It seems like a small win to justify a self-proclaimed deficit hawk’s support for legislation that the government’s Joint Committee on Taxation projects would add between $1 trillion and $1.4 trillion to the debt over 10 years.

“We also understand that [Sen. Flake] is a lame duck. Exactly how much leverage does a lame duck have?”

Perhaps the DACA promise was the bigger factor. Chris Chmielenski, director of content and activism at NumbersUSA, noted that Flake was one of the so-called Gang of Eight senators who pushed a comprehensive amnesty initiative in 2013 that passed the Senate but died in the House of Representatives. That history adds context to Flake’s recent DACA comments, he said.

“Given Flake’s past, it was certainly concerning to hear at first,” he said. “We know that he supports amnesty.”

Other advocates of tougher immigration reform, however, said it does not appear the Senate Republican leadership or the White House conceded anything significant to Flake. They point to Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, who told “PBS NewsHour” that administration officials promised Flake nothing on DACA other than an assurance that he can be part of the discussion.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said Flake “needed some face-saving thing to say” in order to vote for the tax cut.

“It does suggest that for libertarians like Flake, open borders trumps everything — even smaller government,” he added.

President Donald Trump announced in September that he would wind down the DACA program — created by executive action during Barack Obama’s administration — by March 2018. That gave Congress time to fashion a legislative solution that would make DACA permanent if it so chose.

Chmielenski said it does not appear that the White House gave up too much to Flake, who has announced he would not run for re-election next year.

“We also understand that he’s a lame duck. Exactly how much leverage does a lame duck have?” he said. “I don’t think Flake being in the room is going to dictate what’s in the package.”

Immigration hard-liners said it was important that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told LifeZette founder Laura Ingraham on her Fox News show last week that he supports proposed legislation by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) that would curtail legal immigration. Trump has pushed for the main components of the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act to be part of a DACA deal.

“It was a pleasant surprise, to say the least,” said Mehlman of FAIR.

Chmielenski said McConnell typically votes the way NumbersUSA prefers on immigration issues but has not pushed the issue as a priority.

Related: Major: Senate Passes Historic Tax Cut Bill

“He certainly seems to acknowledge he understands the message that came out of the last election,” he said. “We were extremely pleased to see the comments.”

Krikorian noted that Perdue called McConnell’s comments a “milestone” during a panel discussion hosted by his think tank.

“He obviously hadn’t heard that, either,” Krikorian said. “That definitely was a significant comment by McConnell. Now, will he follow through? I don’t know. But the mere fact that he said it is significant progress.”

(photo credit, homepage image: Jeff Flake, CC BY-SA 2.0, Gage Skidmore; photo credit, article image: Jeff FlakeCC BY-SA 2.0, by Gage Skidmore)