[ad_1]
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York announced Wednesday that he would hold the first procedural vote on the bill, leaving advocates with little time to tout its provisions. “Senators must shut out the noise of those who want this deal to fail for their own political purposes,” he said in a statement Sunday night.
If passed, the bill, a top priority for President Biden, would be the first significant action Congress has taken on immigration in decades. It would close loopholes in the asylum process, limit migrants’ access to parole at the border and give the president new powers to effectively close the border to migrants in cases of high border crossing attempts.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the lead Republican negotiator, called the bill’s asylum changes “drastic” and said if passed it would encourage immigrants to come to the United States. I predicted that this would discourage people from doing so.
“People are coming into the country in droves to be released,” Lankford said in an interview Sunday. “If the word gets out quickly that that’s not true anymore, people will come in more orderly.”
The proposal would raise the bar for immigrants to qualify for asylum and increase immigration capacity. The bill also creates new expedited removal powers to encourage faster resolution of asylum cases at the border and quickly remove immigrants who are ineligible for asylum.
invoice This includes a trigger mechanism that can effectively close borders if there is a particularly high number of arrivals for several days in a row. (Many immigrants will be able to qualify for asylum at their ports of entry.)
The “border emergency” clause, which expires in three years, The tool will automatically activate when 5,000 passes per day occur over several days, but the president may choose to use the tool at a lower number, 4,000 passes per day. You can also do it. The bill also reduces the Biden administration’s use of parole at ports of entry and provides for the hiring of new Border Patrol agents and asylum workers.
The proposal includes adding thousands more family-based visas, providing more work visas for some asylum seekers, and guaranteeing immigrants’ right to counsel in expedited removal proceedings, among other things Democrats It also includes priorities.
Republicans initially demanded be The border policy changes were made to pass $60 billion in aid to Ukraine requested by the White House last year, and the final deal includes many tough border provisions that Republicans have long wanted in place.
But President Trump and his allies have attacked the idea of passing any border legislation over concerns that addressing the border crisis would remove a critical campaign issue for the president in an election year. When the agreement began, the direction of the agreement suddenly changed. Many Senate Republicans have indicated they do not support the bill, and some have misunderstood its contents as negotiators have taken months to finalize the bill’s text.
“It’s remarkable that the negotiation process was able to change not only policy, but also the politics of the Democratic base, which accepted border security,” said a frustrated Republican senator who spoke freely on condition of anonymity. I held her and spoke. Probably the Republican presidential candidate. “And here we are again with Trump snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.”
Johnson said the House of Commons would vote this weekend on billions of dollars in unfunded aid to Israel for Ukraine and border issues, further complicating prospects for a Senate deal. “The House is ready to lead, and the reason we have to deal with this situation in Israel right now is because it’s escalating,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” before the document was released. Stated.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said in a letter to his Democratic colleagues that Johnson’s new Israel-only bill is a “cynical attempt to undermine bipartisan efforts in the Senate.” “It’s a great attempt,” he said.
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has publicly fought for continued aid to Ukraine as it struggles to fend off a Russian invasion, strongly supports the deal. There is. Mr. Schumer also staunchly supports negotiations led by Mr. Lankford, Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), and the White House, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin. He argued that it was the Senate’s responsibility to ensure the president acted. Do not continue attacking European countries.
The United States has sent $44 billion in security aid to Ukraine since the 2022 invasion, but the Biden administration late last year said it had reached the limits of its ability to continue providing arms to Ukraine without support from Congress. he warned. Republican lawmakers began opposing sending more money to the country last year after polls showed voters dissatisfied with the idea.
“The challenges we face will not resolve themselves, and our adversaries will not wait for America to become determined to meet them,” McConnell said in a statement. “The Senate must carefully consider the opportunities before it and be prepared to act.”
Border officials processed about 300,000 migrants in December, a record number in the past month, but Biden said he wanted Congress to help ease the crisis. Polls show a majority of voters disapprove of his handling of the border crisis, making the issue a potential liability for him as he seeks re-election in 2024.
The overall aid package includes $14 billion in aid to Israel, $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, and $4.83 billion in aid to Indo-Pacific countries. It is also contributing $10 billion to humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, Ukraine and elsewhere, and $20 billion to the U.S. Border Fund. That total of $118 billion is now higher than the White House’s original request of $106 billion.
Previous efforts at bipartisan immigration reform have included tighter border restrictions as well as discussions of providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the country at the request of Democrats. Considering the current situation, this meeting was unusual.
Republican lawmakers who support the deal have urged their colleagues to support it, arguing that even if Trump is elected president, he won’t get border restrictions as part of the process. He believes it is unlikely that Democrats will cooperate with Trump without demanding legalization of illegal immigrants. .
“This is a unique moment,” Sinema said last month. “And I think we should embrace that.”
The politics of the issue have changed rapidly, with President Trump expressing dissatisfaction with the deal and threatening to block his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Lankford’s local Republican faction even voted to condemn his role in the negotiations.
“I’m an optimistic person,” Lankford said. Thursday. “And that’s one of the reasons I’m still standing here after being punched in the face repeatedly for a while.”
Mr. Johnson and other Republicans opposed to the deal have falsely argued that the bill would allow more immigrants into the country even before the document was released.
“In the next seven to 10 years, no one will be going to court anymore just for coming into the country,” Sinema said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Instead, we will deliver justice quickly. Those who qualify for asylum will be on a fast-track path to starting a new life in America within six months. And those who are ineligible will be on a fast-track path to starting a new life in America.” will be immediately repatriated to their home country.”
Senate Republicans have said they want to read the bill for at least a few days before voting on it behind closed doors to see how much support the deal has in the conference. And some senators, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.C.), say it would be unrealistic to start voting on the bill this year. week. If fewer than 25 Republicans support it, its fate is bleak.
“Personally, I think it would be a mistake to send this bill to the House without a majority in the Republican conference,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, RN.C., the sponsor of the negotiations. He said he believed the bill did not have a majority in the Republican conference. This agreement will help resolve the border crisis.
Mariana Alfaro contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link
