Senators race to release package of border policies and aid for Ukraine and Israel

WASHINGTON — Senators on Sunday released a long-awaited $118 billion package that ties border enforcement policies to war aid to Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies. This launched a long-running effort to push the bill through heavy skepticism from Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The proposal could be President Joe Biden’s best chance to supply Ukraine with wartime aid — a key foreign policy goal shared with both the Senate’s top Democrat, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and its top Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell. The Senate was expected to hold a key test vote on the legislation this week but is facing a wall of opposition from conservatives.

With Congress stalled on approving $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, the US has halted shipments of ammunition and missiles to Kiev, leaving Ukrainian soldiers out of harm’s way as they try to repel the Russian invasion.

Biden said in a statement that the Senate proposal “allows the United States to continue our critical work, together with partners around the world, to stand up for Ukraine’s freedom and support its ability to self-determinate.” defend against Russian aggression.”

And at the border, Biden said the immigration system has been broken for too long and it’s time to fix it. “It will make our country safer, our border more secure, treat people fairly and humanely, while preserving legal immigration consistent with our values ​​as a nation,” Biden said.

The new bill would also invest in U.S. defense manufacturing, send $14 billion in military aid to Israel, send nearly $5 billion to allies in the Asia-Pacific and provide humanitarian assistance to civilians caught in conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

“The United States and our allies face multiple, complex and, in some places, coordinated challenges from adversaries seeking to disrupt democracy and expand authoritarian influence around the world,” Schumer said in a statement.

In an effort to overcome opposition from Republicans in the House of Representatives, McConnell had pushed last year for border policy changes to be included in the national security funding package. The bill would overhaul the asylum system at the border with faster and stricter enforcement, and give presidents new powers to immediately expel migrants if authorities become overwhelmed by the number of people seeking asylum.

During election years, however, Biden and many Democrats have embraced the idea of ​​strict border enforcement, while Donald Trump and his allies have criticized the proposed measures as insufficient.

Republicans have also been reluctant to hand Biden a political victory on an issue they see as one of his biggest vulnerabilities. They have argued that presidents already have sufficient authority to restrict illegal border crossings — a position that would ensure immigration remains a top issue in the presidential election. But at the same time, Republicans in the House of Representatives have also been pushing for their own, stricter version of border security legislation.

Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he had tried to involve House Republicans directly in the Senate negotiations but was rebuffed. He added that he was not aware of the details of the bill but believed the solution to border problems should be a House proposal of tough immigration measures.

“What we’re saying is you have to stop the flow,” Johnson said. He also made clear that he — not Trump — would decide whether to bring the bill to the floor if it were to pass the Senate.

But in a further sign of Johnson’s resistance to the Senate package, he indicated Saturday that the House of Representatives will vote on a separate package of $17.6 billion in military aid for Israel — a move that could allow Republicans in the House of Representatives to express their support for Israel, independently of the Senate. agreement.

Still, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent from Arizona who negotiated the border proposal, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the legislation would be “realistic, pragmatic and the strongest solution to our border crisis in my lifetime.”

“I am confident that when our bill passes the Senate and reaches the House of Representatives, Members of the House, including Speaker Johnson, will have had ample opportunity to read, understand and ask questions about the bill ,” said Sinema.

The border proposal, negotiated for months, is aimed at gaining control of an asylum system overwhelmed by historic numbers of migrants coming to the border. The bill proposes an overhaul of the system with stricter and faster enforcement measures.

If the number of illegal border crossings rises above 5,000 per day for five days, an expulsion authority would automatically intervene, sending migrants back to Mexico without the chance to file an asylum claim. If the number reaches 4,000, presidential administrations would have the option to use deportation authority.

Biden, referring to the authority, has said he would use it to “close the border” once the bill is signed into law.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Sunday that Johnson “has continued to tie himself in knots to delay border security, delay crucial investments in the fight against fentanyl and delay the hiring of Border Patrol — as a major number of his Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives openly state that they only opposed the bipartisan border deal because of former President Donald Trump.”

At the state level, Republican governors have considered sending National Guard troops to the border. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who again led a group of more than a dozen other GOP governors to the southern border at Eagle Pass on Sunday, has been applauded by his party for his extraordinary confrontation with the Biden administration over immigration enforcement.

The bill would allocate $20 billion for immigration enforcement, including the hiring of thousands of new officers to review asylum claims, as well as hundreds of Border Patrol agents. Some of that money would go to shelters and services in U.S. cities that have struggled to keep up with the influx of migrants in recent months.

Migrants seeking asylum, which provides protection for people facing persecution in their home countries, would face a more difficult and speedy process to have their claims assessed. The standard for initial interviews, known as credible fear assessments, would be increased, with many receiving these interviews within days of arriving at the border. Final decisions on their asylum applications would take place within a few months, instead of the often years-long wait that now takes place.

Among Democrats, the stricter asylum standards have raised concerns, especially among progressive and Hispanic lawmakers. While wings of both parties have been openly critical of the policies under discussion, many have postponed final judgment until they can review the text of the bill, which has been a closely guarded secret in the Capitol.

The $14 billion in the package, intended for military aid to Israel, could also fragment Democratic votes. Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, is pushing to cut $10 billion for offensive weapons for Israel from the package, while retaining money for defensive systems.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries suggested in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” that he would support it if it reached the House of Representatives.

“It shouldn’t be dead on arrival,” he said. “We need more common sense in Washington, DC, less conflict and less chaos. We are in a period of divided government. That means we have to try to find common ground.”

Senators finalized the border proposal Friday, but other parts of the package, including aid to U.S. allies, investments in defense manufacturing capabilities and humanitarian aid for people caught in conflict in Gaza and Ukraine, were still being negotiated by Senate appropriators .

However, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, suggested during an interview on “Fox News Sunday” that GOP senators would push to stop the Senate from quickly advancing the bill.

“We’re not going to talk about this next week,” he said. “It’s too important.”