Election-year politics threaten Senate border deal as Trump and his allies rally opposition
WASHINGTON — A politically treacherous dynamic is emerging as negotiators in Congress try to reach a bipartisan deal on the border and immigration, with vocal opposition from the far right and former President Donald Trump threatening to upend the carefully negotiated compromise.
Senators are closing in on details of an agreement on border measures that could unlock Republican support for Ukraine aid and hope to announce it as early as next week. But the deal is already teetering as House Speaker Mike Johnson faces intense pressure from Trump and his allies in the House of Representatives to demand even deeper concessions from Democrats and the White House.
“I don’t think we should do a Border Deal at all unless we get EVERYTHING it takes to stop the INVASION of Millions. & Millions of people,” Trump posted on social media this week.
It’s a familiar political dynamic that has repeatedly thwarted efforts to reform U.S. immigration law, including in 2013 when House Republicans tried to blame illegal immigration on a Democratic president, and in 2018 when Trump helped to scuttle another bipartisan effort. The path for legislation this time is further clouded by an election year in which Trump has once again made the fight against illegal immigration a central focus of his campaign.
While the terms of the policy negotiations have shifted significantly toward Republicans, skepticism among conservatives has run high, creating a precarious moment that could not only shape the contours of U.S. immigration and border legislation for years to come. can determine, but also the future of the US. Ukraine faces dwindling US supplies in its fight against Russia.
President Joe Biden is urging lawmakers to say yes. At a White House meeting this week with congressional leaders aimed at underscoring Ukraine’s urgent need for funding, the president said he was ready for a “big deal on the border.”
The president has reason to want an agreement. The historic number of migrants who have come to the US border with Mexico during Biden’s term is seen as one of the biggest political vulnerabilities in his re-election campaign.
During the Republican caucuses in Iowa last week, which Trump won, immigration was a top issue. An AP VoteCast poll found that about 9 in 10 caucusgoers supported building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, while about 7 in 10 expressed strong support for the idea.
As asylum seekers have moved across the country, often by busloads to Democratic-leaning cities as part of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s program, they have strained resources and political tolerance in areas that will be critical to the Biden’s re-election chances. .
“It’s gotten to the point where, in a sense, everyone has their backs against the wall,” said Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat. “I’m not talking about politics, I mean, substantively, these are challenges that the country cannot ignore.”
Bennet was joined at the Capitol on Thursday by Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat who told reporters that the recent influx of migrants has “created a humanitarian crisis and a budget crisis unlike anything we’ve ever seen in the last 25 years.”
Democrats in Congress are divided over the merits of the Senate package. Progressive and Latin American lawmakers are denouncing changes that would tighten the process for seeking asylum in the United States. Still, many Democrats say Johnson’s resistance to a bipartisan compromise shows that Republicans are not serious about solving the problems at the border.
“They basically want to make sure that the situation is as chaotic as possible so that they can win the election in November,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat. “That’s their strategy. It is not a sincere attempt to address what is happening at the border.”
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, has strongly advocated for the deal. He has told fellow Republicans that the border package, which he insisted would be accompanied by Biden’s request for $110 billion for war aid to Ukraine, Israel and other national security priorities, is a rare opportunity to get stronger policies through Congress .
The Senate proposal would tighten the asylum process with the aim of reducing the number of migrants coming to the southern border to make asylum claims.
Negotiators have been working on a number of policies intended to help immigrants. The plan could include a path to citizenship for Afghans who left their country during the U.S. withdrawal, along with work permits for migrants entering the asylum system, according to two people familiar with the talks who were granted anonymity to discuss the private negotiations. discuss.
But the package will largely ignore broad immigration changes, such as protections for immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children, that were foundational in previous Senate bills.
“It will be by far the most conservative border security bill in four decades,” said Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the Republican Party’s lead negotiator.
Lankford and other Senate Republicans have urged their House colleagues to remain open-minded. They argue that the changes would actually clear the way for Trump to implement his border agenda if he wins the election. Lankford has also said the legislation will not dramatically reduce the number of migrants at the border in coming months — a tacit signal that border security could remain a top issue during the election.
Still, Johnson has argued that a hardline House bill, HR 2, which passed the House in May without a single Democratic vote, is the solution to America’s border problems. It would create a sweeping system designed to combat illegal immigration.
Johnson has also made it clear that he has spoken regularly with Trump.
“We’re not playing politics with this, we’re demanding real, transformative policy change,” Johnson said this week.
Even beyond Trump, Johnson faces far-right members of the House of Representatives who are outraged by his willingness to work with Democrats to pass legislation. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close Trump ally, has threatened to initiate a motion to impeach Johnson if he brings a border bill supporting Ukraine to the House of Representatives.
Greene said this week that Trump supports House conservatives’ plan because “it brings back all of his strong border policies.” In December, she said that passing bipartisan border legislation would only give Biden an opportunity to tout the legislation during the campaign.
“I’ve been telling everyone that President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party,” Greene said. “That decisive victory in Iowa should be the bull’s-eye for any Republican who gets elected.”
Despite the pressure, Johnson signaled some support for the legislative initiative after a meeting at the White House this week, calling the talks “productive.” But what he will do next remains to be seen.
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., left the White House meeting concerned that an immediate action plan had not been discussed.
“We have to figure out how to put the leadership in a position to walk on broken glass because whatever deal is made is going to make a lot of people unhappy,” Himes said.
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Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed.