But the potential deal, which is already angering his progressive base, is not coming easy and will have to wait until next year.
“There’s no way,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune told CNN’s Manu Raju about the prospect of a deal before the holidays.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump is driving Republicans further to the right with increasingly harsh language demonizing migrants, perhaps complicating a search for some middle ground in the nation’s capital.
Senators struggled to finalize an elusive bipartisan deal that would see Democrats swap the billions in foreign aid money sought by Biden in exchange for a border policy that harkens back to Trump’s administration.
Republicans have been hammering Biden’s entire presidency about the need to address surges in border crossings with further restrictions on those seeking asylum.
Texas takes immigration matters into its own hands
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed a controversial law that would make entering the state illegally a state crime and give Texas law enforcement the power to arrest migrants.
The law is expected to take effect in March, so expect a court fight next year. The US Supreme Court has previously affirmed federal oversight of immigration matters.
The more immediate question of a new federal border policy agreement also seems likely to stretch into next year.
The House didn’t even make a show of sticking around. They packed up last week, leaving major questions about US aid for Israel, Ukraine and the border.
House Republicans, under the guidance of Speaker Mike Johnson, have insisted that the spending bill dramatically alter US immigration policy, reverting it to something more in line with Trump’s policies when he was president.
A concession on immigration
That Biden has appeared open to border policy changes is an indication both of how powerful the issue is becoming in US politics and also how far he’s willing to go to secure the aid for Ukraine.
The US has been a main foreign financial backer of Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia’s invasion, and Biden has portrayed the stakes of supporting Ukraine as essential to defending democracies abroad and standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
White House officials warned Monday that at the end of the month, the Pentagon will exhaust the money it is authorized to spend on Ukraine.
But Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the top Republican at the negotiation table for border talks, said he thinks meeting to discuss the legislation when the House returns the week of January 8 is a “realistic timeline.”
Anger on the left
Biden will need to work on convincing his left flank that any concessions on immigration are worth it.
0 Comments