WASHINGTON ― Leading progressive lawmakers on Monday urged President Joe Biden to reject sharp limits on immigration sought by congressional Republicans in exchange for their support for continued U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, amid its struggle against Russian aggression.
The GOP’s demands to make Ukraine aid contingent on major changes to the nation’s immigration laws and border policies are jeopardizing the passage of an emergency national security spending package by year’s end ― when U.S. assistance to Ukraine is expected to run dry. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is making another visit to D.C. this week to appeal to Congress to approve over $60 billion in aid.
The dispute is also generating division within the Democratic Party. Biden and vulnerable Democrats up for reelection next year have acknowledged that some reforms are needed to address the influx of migrants on the border, while Hispanic Democrats and the progressive wing of the party are warning that GOP proposals would effectively ban asylum and punish people legitimately seeking refuge in the U.S.
“We are deeply concerned that the President would consider advancing Trump-era immigration policies that Democrats fought so hard against — and that he himself campaigned against — in exchange for aid to our allies that Republicans already support,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement on Monday.
“Caving to demands for these permanent damaging policy changes as a ‘price to be paid’ for an unrelated one-time spending package would set a dangerous precedent,” the lawmakers said.
Biden’s $110 billion emergency spending request to Congress already includes funding to boost enforcement on the border, as well as additional billions of dollars in aid to Israel and Taiwan.
Republicans are insisting on additional measures that would impose sharp limits on who is eligible for asylum in the U.S., ban the administration’s ability to extend parole for migrants, and allow for the administration to automatically shut the border down if certain border encounter numbers are met.
“When it comes to keeping America safe, border security is not a sideshow,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday. “It’s ground zero. Senate Republicans have no more spare time to explain this basic reality. We cannot convince anyone who doesn’t want to acknowledge the glaring facts on the ground.”
Last week, every Senate Republican voted to block the Biden administration’s emergency spending request, and they’ve vowed to do so again in the absence of sufficient immigration policy changes.
Biden has acknowledged the need to “fix the broken border system,” saying last week that he’s willing to make “significant compromises” on immigration policy.
The White House has become actively involved in negotiations dealing with the matter on Capitol Hill, per Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the lead Democrat involved in the talks.
“I hope Republicans are listening,” Murphy said of Padilla’s concerns on Monday. “Ultimately, this agreement is going to have to carry a lot of Democratic votes if it’s going to reach the finish line.”
Still, many Hispanic Democrats are wary about a potential deal that includes drastic changes to immigration policies, including gutting asylum laws.
“President Biden knows that is not what Democrats stand for,” Padilla and Barragán said Monday. “During his 2020 campaign he pledged to restore our nation’s ‘moral standing in the world and our historic role as a haven for refugees and asylum seekers.’ It is unconscionable that the President would consider going back on his word to enact what amounts to a ban on asylum.”
Many Republicans are entirely against the idea of supplying Ukraine with further aid, even if a deal on border policy comes together. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said Zelenskyy’s visit to Capitol Hill is unlikely to sway him and other skeptics of Ukraine aid.
“The idea of flying this guy in last-minute, effectively to badger and guilt-trip us, I just find grotesque,” Vance said Monday.