Republicans are tilting the balance toward their policy positions on the border and asylum claims by conditioning greater restrictions on immigrants on the approval of additional aid funds for Ukraine, as well as the 2024 budget.
The House of Representatives advanced with a first plan: it approved only the $14 billion that President Joe Biden requested to help Israel, but left out more than $60 billion in aid for Ukraine and another almost $14 billion for the border.
The condition of the Republicans, led by the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson (Louisiana), is that there be severe adjustments in border security and, above all, restrict asylum requests.
Political reported that there have been serious conversations between Republican congressmen and President Biden, who has been seriously contemplating accepting the Republicans’ position in order to move forward with his aid plan for Ukraine and Israel.
The report highlights that the Biden Administration is open to the adjustments sought by the Republicans.
“Senior Biden officials are preparing Democratic lawmakers and immigration policy advocates for the likelihood that the administration will have to make compromises on the asylum law in order for the national security funding request to be approved,” it says. the report citing four different sources.
This Friday, several Democratic representatives, such as Pramila Jayapal (Washington), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement; Nanette Barragán (California), president of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; Judy Chu (California), chair of the Congressional Asian-Pacific American Caucus; and Steven Horsford (Nevada), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, expressed their concerns.
“We raise our strong opposition to any emergency supplemental funding bill that seeks to establish new immigration and border policies or authorities,” they said in a joint statement. “Democrats have rebuilt the legal paths torn down by the last administration [del presidente Donald Trump] and they have pushed bipartisan bills through the House that we would like to see pass the Senate and become law.”
They argued that any consideration by the Biden Administration about “appeasing” Republicans on their immigration agenda would be inappropriate.
“If Republicans really wanted to secure the border, they would work with Democrats to modernize ports of entry, expand legal pathways for immigrants, and address the root causes of migration,” they stated.
The representatives accused the Republicans of advancing an “extreme” agenda against immigrants, which they described as “cruel” and “unviable, especially taking as part of their negotiations the aid that the US has promised to Israel and Ukraine.
“They are trying to bypass Congress and exploit two foreign wars to make it law,” they said.
Democrats believe that comprehensive immigration reform is the only way to resolve what is happening at the border.
“We can only solve the complex problem of immigration by addressing it in a comprehensive and bipartisan manner that takes into consideration our economic, humanitarian and security needs,” they noted.
It is possible that in the Senate he will reject the Republicans’ plan for limited aid to Israel.