As President Biden and Senate Democrats race to secure a hard-fought deal linking aid to Ukraine with increased border security, they face an unexpected force of resistance: Democratic allies in the House.
So far, the biggest threat to the new national security policy appeared to be House Republicans, who vowed to repeal the bill in no uncertain terms.
But if conservatives oppose the bill as being too soft on would-be immigrants, liberal Democrats criticize it as being too harsh on the same group.
Democratic critics, many of them representatives of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), the Progressive Caucus, or both, are angry that they were left out of Senate negotiations, and that the new bill is a key Democratic issue. I am furious that my priorities seem to be left out. . The list includes protections for asylum seekers and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the country, especially a group of young people known as Dreamers.
A chorus of these Democrats have already warned that they will oppose the bill if it passes in any form in the House, shifting the blame in advance to Republicans who blocked Congress’s best efforts, including Biden and others. It poses a potential messaging headache for Democratic leaders. Years of bipartisan border legislation.
Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.), chair of the Hispanic Caucus, said, “Everything I’ve heard that’s in this bill is going to take immigration reform, real comprehensive immigration reform, in 10 or 15 years. It will probably be delayed for a year,” he said.
“What if there was something like a passageway there?” [to citizenship] Or Dreamers, that would be a completely different conversation,” she continued. “But there was no negotiation. It was just like taking hostages and saying, ‘Okay, what more do you want?’ And it was mostly a concession to the point that even with the evidence, the problem would not be resolved. ”
Democratic critics are quick to stress that no deal has yet been reached in the Senate and no formal legislative text has been released. But based on numerous media reports outlining some of the bill’s purported border changes, many House liberals have said they would oppose the bill if the details were true.
“What’s in the negotiated bill is Trump-like policies that have never worked to actually address the problems we have,” said Pramila, head of the Congressional Progressive Party.・Rep. Jayapal (Democratic Party, Washington State) said. caucus meeting.
“So I’m frankly disappointed that the president, the White House, and some other Democrats are giving in to that kind of rhetoric, because it doesn’t mean we really need to do anything to solve the problem. Because it detracts from what needs to be done.”
Policy details are not the only source of controversy. Liberals also protested the exclusion of Hispanic caucus members from the negotiating table.
“I think this is a big problem and a big hurdle for the Hispanic caucus to approve any deal that comes out,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. “The problem lies in policy,” she said. [and] The problem is in the process and that CHC members are not deeply involved in this. ”
Criticism is not necessarily universal. Some more moderate Democrats believe that in a divided power Washington, no party can get everything they want, and that Democrats, especially with funding to Ukraine at stake, Some are quick to point out that we should be prepared to accept compromises on borders.
“What I’m hearing is that Democratic senators have moved a lot, but I’ve also heard that Republicans have moved a lot, too,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Ta. “And to me, that’s how this place works, no one can get everything they want.”
Still, liberals see the Senate negotiations as leaning too far toward Republican priorities. Liberal critics have blasted the bill as an overreach that prevents would-be immigrants from pursuing asylum and other legal means of entering the U.S., apart from the lack of a citizenship pathway. ing.
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), a former Progressive Caucus chairman who represents most of Arizona and the Mexican border, said the solution proposed in the Senate bill is “more punitive than anything else. ” he said.
“Right now, my instincts don’t support it,” he said. “I’ve never supported what I heard out there.”
The backlash comes as a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators inch closer to a deal that combines tougher border measures with military aid to Ukraine and Israel, humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and aid to Taiwan. It happened while I was saying that. The border issue remains the most difficult to resolve, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York saying Wednesday that negotiators are close to an agreement but “some issues remain to be resolved.” Stated.
“The work is not easy, it is very difficult, but we keep moving forward,” he told reporters at the Capitol.
The new deal has been condemned by conservatives in both chambers of Congress, with former President Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, calling on Republicans to oppose any border deal before returning to the White House. , voices of opposition are growing louder.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) echoed Trump’s call, saying that if reports are accurate, the Senate bill would be “killed on arrival” in the House. He also has a lot of support from conservatives, who argue that Biden has the power to end the border crisis on his own through presidential action and that Congressional action is unnecessary.
“The president has the ability, the power, to stop that at this point,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said this week. “But he chose not to do so because this is all a sham and intentional. It dilutes our society and undermines our way of life, which means destroying Western civilization.” This is a deliberate effort to do so.”
The Republican Party’s passionate opposition to the new Senate deal has led to claims from Democratic leaders, who at the beginning of the talks had argued for a balance between aid for Ukraine and border security. He claims he never intended to support such a policy because it might help. He is seeking re-election. Democrats say that strategy was sealed when President Trump opposed the policy.
“What the Republican conference must address is that it is allowing a pro-Putin majority to link these issues together and block progress,” said Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. Ta. The House Democratic Whip spoke to reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Amid the debate, some Democratic members of the House of Representatives have threatened to block Johnson’s response to the Senate package by using expulsion petitions, which allow the House to vote on legislation with a simple majority of the House over the majority leader’s objections. This raises the idea that it may be possible to overcome opposition.
But liberal opposition to border provisions means many Democrats will almost certainly refuse to sign the petition. Some say that outlook means Johnson is likely to bring the bill to the floor on his own initiative.
“Whatever bipartisan agreement comes out of the Senate, which many of us Democrats probably wouldn’t have been happy with, we’re not going to see that day anyway,” Grijalva said. Told. “It would have been a tough vote here because there are quite a few Democrats who feel this is just a punitive move.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
