Senate Democrats are split over a looming border deal aimed at winning congressional approval for funding for Ukraine.
The Hill reported that some Democrat lawmakers, including Latino caucus members, fear a deal will include strict asylum policy reforms. They are concerned the Biden administration will support new authority to expel migrants without screening and expand detention and deportation, according to the news outlet.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he plans to set a vote for next week on an emergency foreign aid plan that will include border security reforms.
“I’m very concerned about the details,” said Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. “I’ve got no details about where the negotiations are but obviously I have concerns. There’s a lot of things I’m concerned about.”
He noted no one knows who will be the next president responsible for enforcing new asylum and border security laws beyond the 2024 election.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. said in a post on social media platformX: “If @SenSchumer thinks he can send us home for the weekend, quietly cave to Republicans’ anti-immigrant demands while nobody is watching, and then ambush Democrats expecting us to vote yes with a smile, he is TERRIBLY MISTAKEN.
“@SenSchumer and those Democrats who are contemplating these proposals need to understand that these Trumpian policies will do nothing to address our challenges at the border and will only exacerbate the problem. Immigration advocates should speak up — HELL NO is the message.”
President Joe Biden has been urging lawmakers to pass a supplemental aid package to provide $50 billion in new security to Ukraine as it fights off the Russian invasion, as well as $14 billion for Israel as it wages war against Hamas in Gaza, according to Reuters.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as Republicans in the Democrat-majority Senate, have repeatedly said they will only vote for that aid if it is paired with new controls for the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., said: “I’m always concerned when there’s serious conversations taking place with the lack of detail being shared.”
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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