WASHINGTON — Senators on Sunday unveiled a long-awaited $118 billion package combining border security policies and wartime aid to Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, overcoming deep skepticism from Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Mike. It began a long-term effort to push the bill. Johnson.
The proposal could be President Joe Biden’s best opportunity to replenish Ukraine with wartime aid. This is a major foreign policy goal shared by both the top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, and the top Republican, Mitch McConnell.
The Senate was expected to take a key test vote on the bill this week, but it faces a wall of conservative opposition.
With Congress stalling approval of $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, the United States has halted shipments of ammunition and missiles to Kiev, leaving Ukrainian soldiers at a disadvantage as they try to repel a Russian invasion.
Biden said in a statement that the Senate’s proposal would allow the United States to continue its important work with partners around the world to protect Ukraine’s freedom and support its ability to defend itself from Russian aggression. It will become.”
And on the border, Biden said the immigration system has been broken for too long and it’s time to fix it. “In line with our values as a nation, we will make our country safer, our borders more secure, and treat our people fairly and humanely, while preserving legal immigration,” Biden said.
The new bill would invest in U.S. defense manufacturing, send $14 billion in military aid to Israel, direct about $5 billion to allies in the Asia-Pacific, and provide relief to civilians caught up in the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. It also includes the provision of humanitarian aid.
“The United States and our allies face multiple complex, and in some cases systematic, challenges from adversaries seeking to subvert democracy and expand authoritarian influence around the world,” Schumer said in a statement. “
McConnell pushed for border policy changes to be included in the national security funding package last year, overcoming opposition from House Republicans. The bill would overhaul the asylum system at the border, provide faster and stricter enforcement, and give the president new powers to immediately expel immigrants if authorities are overwhelmed by the number of asylum seekers. be.
But the changing immigration situation in a presidential election year has seen Biden and many Democrats embrace the idea of tougher border enforcement, while Donald Trump and his allies believe the proposed measures are untenable. Critics say it’s not enough.
Republicans have also been reluctant to give Biden a political victory on an issue they see as one of his biggest weaknesses. They argue that the president already has sufficient power to curb illegal border crossings and is in a position to ensure that immigration remains a key issue in the presidential election. But at the same time, House Republicans are also pushing for their own stricter border security legislation.
Johnson, R-Louisiana, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he tried to bring House Republicans directly into the Senate negotiations but was rebuffed.
He added that while he doesn’t know the details of the bill, he believes the solution to the border problem should be a hard-line immigration proposal in the House.
“What we’re saying is we have to stem the flow,” Johnson said. He also said that if the bill passes the Senate, he, not Mr. Trump, will decide whether to take it up.
But in a further sign that Mr. Johnson is resisting the Senate package, he indicated Saturday that the House of Commons will vote on another package of $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel. . This would allow House Republicans to demonstrate support for Israel independently of the Senate. transaction.
Still, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Arizona independent who negotiated the border proposal, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the bill is “realistic, practical, and the strongest response to the border crisis in my lifetime.” “It will be a solution to this problem,” he said.
“I am confident that once our bill passes the Senate and reaches the House, members of the House, including Speaker Johnson, will have ample opportunity to read it, understand it, and ask questions,” Sinema said. Ta.
The border proposal, which took months to negotiate, is aimed at reining in an asylum system overwhelmed by historic numbers of migrants arriving at the border. The bill proposes an overhaul of the system with tougher and faster enforcement measures.
If the number of illegal border crossings exceeds 5,000 people per day on a five-day average, deportation authorities will automatically be activated and migrants will be sent back to Mexico without the opportunity to apply for asylum. If that number reaches 4,000, the presidential administration will have the option of using deportation powers.
Biden referred to the agency and said he would use it to “close the border” as soon as the bill is signed into law.
White House press secretary Andrew Bates said Sunday that Johnson “continues to chain himself to slow border security, slow critical investments in the fight against fentanyl, and slow hiring of Border Patrol agents.” . Opposes a bipartisan border deal because of former President Donald Trump. ”
At the state level, Republican governors are considering sending the National Guard to the border. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott once again led more than a dozen other Republican governors on a trip to the southern border near Eagle Pass on Sunday, but was criticized by party officials in an unprecedented showdown with the Biden administration over immigration enforcement. I am receiving support.
The bill would allocate $20 billion for immigration enforcement, including hiring thousands of new police officers to review asylum applications and hundreds of Border Patrol agents.
Some of that money will go to shelters and services in cities across the country that have struggled to cope with the influx of migrants in recent months.
Migrants seeking asylum, which protects people facing persecution in their home countries, will face a tougher and faster process before their claims are evaluated.
Standards for the initial interview, known as a reliable fear screening, have been raised, with many people being interviewed within days of arriving at the border.
A final decision on their asylum claims will be made within months, instead of the years it currently takes.
There has been concern among Democrats, especially progressives and Hispanic members, about stricter asylum standards. Members of both parties have publicly criticized the policies under discussion, but many are holding off on final judgment until they scrutinize the bill’s text, a closely guarded secret on Capitol Hill.
A $14 billion package aimed at military aid to Israel could also divide Democratic votes. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, is calling for $10 billion in offensive weapons for Israel to be removed from the package, while keeping funding for defense systems.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries suggested in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” that he would support the bill if it passes the House.
“It can’t be dead on arrival,” he said. “We need more common sense in Washington, D.C., and less conflict and chaos. We are in an era of divided government, which means we should try to find bipartisan common ground.”
Senators finalized the border proposal on Friday, but other parts of the package include aid to U.S. allies, investments in defense manufacturing capacity and humanitarian aid to people caught up in conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. is still being negotiated by Senate appropriators.
But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, suggested in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” that Republican senators would work to slow the bill’s rapid progress in the Senate.
“We’re not going to address this issue next week,” he said. “It’s too important.”
