- A handful of Congressional Democrats are criticizing the Biden administration for its reported plans to bring back key Trump-era border policies to get Republicans to support Ukraine funding.
- The White House is open to increasing deportations and detention of illegal migrants as part of the funding plan, according to CBS News.
- “The fact we are considering exchanging the lives of asylum seekers for Ukrainian lives is draconian & immoral. We CAN choose policies that recognize our interconnectedness. Let’s prove it by showing courage & rejecting this cruel exchange,” Democrat Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez said.
Several congressional Democrats expressed their opposition to the Biden administration’s reported plans to bring back Trump-era policies to secure the southern border in exchange for Ukraine funding.
The Biden administration is open to bringing back certain Trump-era migrant expulsion policies to get Republicans on board with supporting Ukraine aid, according to CBS News. The plans would reportedly include expelling migrants without screening them for asylum, while increasing deportations and detention, which several congressional Democrats view as problematic. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ‘Shot Between The Eyes’: Border Patrol Chiefs Testify On Cartel Violence Against Border-Crossers)
“These are the same policies weaponized against immigrant communities under the Trump administration and are the foundation of President Trump’s vision of ‘sweeping raids, giant camps, and mass deportations’ for a second term. Destroying the asylum system will not fix the southern border. We did not spend years fighting this agenda under Trump only to give in to Senate Republicans’ extreme demands now,” Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said in a statement Tuesday.
“I call on my Senate colleagues to reject these policies and support funding that would give the administration the tools it needs to process asylum seekers, enforce U.S. immigration laws, and provide funding to cities welcoming new migrants. I am ready to work with any of my colleagues who are serious about fixing our broken immigration system and creating the legal pathways we need to ensure an orderly process at the border — but in a thoughtful way, not as a ransom demand for Ukraine aid,” she continued.
Senate Republicans must stop holding Ukraine aid hostage in exchange for cruel & ineffective immigration policy demands. We need to reject these absurd proposals, fix our broken immigration system, & approve critical foreign aid.
Read my full statement⬇️https://t.co/whociWNM26
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) December 12, 2023
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas paid a visit to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to provide “technical assistance” amid ongoing negotiations, according to CBS News.
The White House signaled it would back a similar policy to Title 42, according to CBS News, which was invoked to expel migrants who crossed the border illegally as a matter of public health during the COVID-19 pandemic and was allowed to expire by the Biden administration on May 11. It is also said to be supportive of implementing nationwide expedited removals of migrants who don’t request asylum or who fail initial asylum interviews.
Democratic Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez called the reported plan “deplorable” in a Tuesday statement on X, formerly Twitter.
“The fact we are considering exchanging the lives of asylum seekers for Ukrainian lives is draconian & immoral. We CAN choose policies that recognize our interconnectedness. Let’s prove it by showing courage & rejecting this cruel exchange,” Ramirez said.
“Adopting core tenets of Trump’s immigration policy won’t work. And if it’s a political calculation, it’s a bad one,” Democratic Illinois Rep. Chuy Garcia said Tuesday on Twitter. “Getting rid of legal immigration pathways doesn’t stop migrants who are fleeing violence and hunger from coming, it reduces their avenues to do so safely.”
Democratic California Sen. Alex Padilla believes there’s “no excuse for entertaining failed Trump-era immigration policies,” he said in a statement on X.
“The White House has not signed off on any particular policy proposals or final agreements, and reporting that ascribes determined policy positions to the White House is inaccurate,” White House Spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández told CBS News. “The President has said he is open to compromise and we look forward to continued conversations with Senate negotiators as we work toward a bipartisan package.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson renewed House Republicans’ demands that they’ll only support Ukraine aid if it comes with funding for border security after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday.
“I have also made very clear from day one, that our first condition on any national security supplemental spending package is about our own national security first,” Johnson said.
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