US Senate introduces $118 billion measure for Israel, Ukraine, and border security
A bipartisan border security bill worth $118 billion was introduced by the U.S. Senate on Sunday. It would also aid Israel and Ukraine. However, the House of Representatives quickly opposed the bill.
President Joe Biden urged Congress to "come together and swiftly pass this bipartisan agreement," complimenting the bill's immigration provisions, which were negotiated over several months.
Nevertheless, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson proclaimed it "dead on arrival" if it made it to his chamber.
In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, he stated, "This bill is even worse than we expected, and won't come close to ending the border catastrophe the president has created."
Despite resistance from Donald Trump as well, the Democratic and Republican senators who supported the comprehensive plan pertaining to overseas military aid and border security in the United States promised to proceed. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced on Wednesday that he would take action to set up a preliminary vote on the bill.
The bill would bring about the biggest changes to border security and immigration in decades if it were to become law.
Progressive Democrats are upset that the bill offers no path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants who have been in the country for a long time, including "Dreamer" immigrants who were brought here as minors. The legislation, according to independent senator Kyrsten Sinema, would secure the southern border of the United States. It would also require the Department of Homeland Security to "shut down" the border temporarily for most migrants if, for seven days, there are more than 5,000 attempts per day to cross the border.
One of the bill's negotiators, Republican Senator James Lankford, predicted that the border would stay closed for at least three weeks as the number of immigrants arriving would likely decline dramatically.
According to figures from Senator Patty Murray, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill included $20.23 billion for border security, $60.06 billion to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, $14.1 billion for security assistance for Israel, $2.44 billion to U.S. Central Command and the conflict in the Red Sea, and $4.83 billion to support U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific facing aggression from China.
Humanitarian aid for people in war areas, such as Gaza, the West Bank, and Ukraine, would cost an additional $10 billion; however, the law prohibits the monies from flowing to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. Funding to the organization has been suspended by the Biden administration and other countries due to claims that some of its employees participated in Hamas' strikes in southern Israel on October 7.
In a statement, Schumer stated, "The priorities in this bill are too important to ignore and too vital to allow politics to get in the way." "The United States and our allies are facing multiple, complex and, in places, coordinated challenges from adversaries who seek to disrupt democracy and expand authoritarian influence around the globe."
The bill's main measures of international security mostly align with what President Biden asked Congress for in October when he asked for more funding to support Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine.
The demand of House Republicans that this proposal be linked to a change in immigration policy has caused it to stall.
Republicans in the House are split on how to handle the massive influx of new immigrants and whether to provide Ukraine more money. Johnson announced on Saturday that he would be holding a vote this week on a new bill that would give Israel $17.6 billion in military support. Neither Ukraine nor US border security receive any more funding under that measure.
In the meanwhile, Lankford promised to speak with Johnson to garner additional House support for the Senate plan.
According to Schumer, the accord will result in "faster and fair" immigration judgments as well as additional front-line staff and asylum officials. Lankford informed reporters that it would increase the number of immigrant detention beds from 34,000 to as much as 50,000.
Proponents of the measure said that it would put an end to the contentious "catch-and-release" policy, which detractors claimed was a major factor in the large number of illegal immigrants that crossed the southern border. To achieve this, it would expedite the processing of asylum cases rather than promptly freeing detained migrants and permitting them to remain in the country for years before hearings.
The leading Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has backed the talks, claiming that Republicans would not receive a better deal from a Republican White House.
McConnell stated in a statement, "The Senate must carefully consider the opportunity in front of us and prepare to act."
During a press conference, Schumer stated that he had never collaborated with his longtime Senate colleague McConnell as closely as he had on the plan.
"On many occasions, we thought the negotiations had fallen apart," Schumer stated.
RIGHT-WING DISPUTE
However, conservative Republicans are dubious of the recently proposed Senate legislation.
"What the proponents of this 'agreement' aren't telling you is this: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise stated on X that "it accepts 5,000 illegal immigrants a day and gives automatic work permits to asylum recipients—a magnet for more illegal immigration."
Though they had previously urged for legislative action, other House Republicans have stated that Biden can achieve many of the improvements they want to immigration policy by executive action.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday, immigration is the second biggest worry among Americans and a major concern for Republicans in particular. In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended around 2 million migrants at the border.
Trump has focused a significant portion of his campaign on opposing immigration. He is the front-runner for the Republican nomination to run against Biden in November. Additionally, House Republicans are moving forward with their attempt to remove Biden's principal border official, Alejandro Mayorkas, as Homeland Security Secretary.
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