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WASHINGTON (AP) – Top Biden administration officials worked Wednesday to try to reach a final deal for military aid for Ukraine by agreeing to Senate Republican demands to enforce the US-Mexico border laws, with an urgent schedule as Congress prepares to leave Washington with the crisis unresolved.
The White House was scrambling to lock in an agreement on principles with key Senate lawmakers, which would allow them to work on draft legislation over the holiday break, according to two people familiar with the matter. familiar with the plan wanted to remain anonymous.
As details of the plan emerged, immigrant advocates and members of President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party were concerned about the policies being discussed. Some showed up at the Capitol, warning of a return to the tough border and immigration policies of the Trump era.
Congress has little time to reach an agreement Biden $110 billion proposal for Ukraine, Israel and other national security interests that the Republicans are suppressing require changes in border policies. While White House officials and key Senate advisers appeared to be narrowing down a list of priorities to strengthen the U.S.-Mexico border and evacuate some people recently immigrated to the US, Senate Republicans said not enough progress has been made to justify staying in Washington. after Thursday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington this week to plead with lawmakers for support, but lawmakers are still preparing to walk away for weeks with one of the main international commitments of the US – to help stop the Russian President from Vladimir Putin. attack on Ukraine — very doubtful. In addition, the hanging would be a trade-off on one of the most difficult issues in American politics: immigration and border security.
“It’s tough, tough,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday. “But we were sent here to do difficult things.”
Together applications are still being discussed, according to several people familiar with the private talks, plans to allow Homeland Security officials to stop immigrants from applying for asylum at the US southern border if the number of crossings daily capacity is more than 5,000. Some single days this year have exceeded 10,000.
Proposals are also being discussed to stop asylum seekers at the border, including families and children, who may have electronic means.
Advocates are also looking at ways to allow authorities to quickly remove immigrants from the United States for at least two years, even if they are far from the border. But those exemptions will be extended to people who have not taken refuge or have not been allowed to enter the test, according to one of the people who explained the negotiations.
Policies like those the Republican administration of President Donald Trump has tried to implement to curb border crossings, but many of them have been successful in the face of the court. If enacted by Congress, it would give immigration officials little legal leverage to challenge the restrictions on those seeking an asylum.
Immigrant advocates, who are planning demonstrations on the Capitol on Wednesday, warned of a return to anti-immigrant policies and questioned whether they would solve problems in the neighbors
“I never imagined that at a time when we had a Democratic Senate and a Democratic White House that we would come to the table and introduce some of the worst immigration policies that have ever existed,” Maribel said. Hernández Rivera, American Civil. Liberties Union director of policy and public affairs.
The Senate negotiations also reached an agreement on raising the threshold for people to apply for asylum in the first dangerous investigations.
Senate Republicans discussed the proposal of the White House in a meeting at noon and expressed the belief that the administration of Biden was directly involved in the creation of the law. But many senators said there was not enough time to finalize an agreement.
“No one wrote anything. These are all ideas at this point,” said Sen. John Thune, the no. 2 Senate Republicans, adding, “The deal has yet to come.”
Even if the Senate sits in Washington to pass the proposals, Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a Republican, also needs to push the law in his chamber, where there may be opposition from both parties. Strong opponents have criticized the Senate’s view that it does not go far enough, while Democrats and Hispanic lawmakers are opposed to restricting access to asylum.
In a press conference in front of the Capitol, leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus vowed to oppose the policies being considered. They also said Latino lawmakers should have been central to the negotiations.
“(Biden) argued for restoring the spirit of the country and holding on to our democratic values and the principles of our founding fathers. And that includes protecting our protection and respect for refugees,” the said Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.
He called it “unthinkable” for a Democratic president to compromise on border policies without having policies that benefit immigrants.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration was “encouraged” by the progress in negotiations and emphasized that any final product must be a “bilateral agreement.” He refused to address criticism from advocates that the provisions being discussed could be worse than Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump.
In the Capitol, senators discussing the border package urged congressional leaders to call lawmakers back to Washington next week, hoping they can use this week’s momentum. to push the envelope.
But they warned their colleagues that the passage of the package by the Senate will not be effective unless the House is ready to move quickly.
“It’s going to be a piñata outside for people to take potshots at for the next two weeks,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex.
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Associated Press reporters Elliot Spagat, Seung Min Kim and Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.