Johnson goes to the border and pushes Biden harder for an immigration deal

Speaker Mike Johnson will kick off the new year by leading more than 60 House Republicans to the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday in an effort to increase pressure on President Biden and Democrats to agree to a strict new immigration policy to choke the flow of migrants flowing into the country.

During a visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, Mr Johnson is expected to attack Mr Biden over the increase in migrant crossings and demand he crack down on deporting people trying to enter the country illegally and halting the construction of to resume a border wall. The visit comes as Senate Republicans and Democrats struggle to reach agreement on border policy changes that the Republican Party has demanded as the price for supporting emergency spending legislation that would include more than $50 billion in military aid to Ukraine would accelerate.

The talks focused on making it harder for migrants to seek asylum in the United States, deporting or detaining more people who cross the border and keeping more of them out of the country pending a decision on the question whether they are allowed to do that or not. enter. Mr. Biden and Democrats in Congress, recognizing the political liability they face if they fail to address the border, have signaled they are open to some changes, but not enough to satisfy Republicans set. And in the House of Representatives, Republicans are pushing for even stricter measures that Democrats are unlikely to embrace.

“This situation requires significant policy changes and Republicans in the House of Representatives will continue to advocate for real solutions that actually secure our border,” Johnson said in his speech on Tuesday. a message social media.

Republicans in both the House of Representatives and the Senate have insisted that sweeping immigration changes must be part of any bill to help Ukraine fight a Russian invasion, and Republican senators last month blocked a $110.5 billion bill for the national security, which would replenish Kiev’s war chest. Their demands prompted Biden administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas, to participate in almost daily bipartisan talks on Capitol Hill last month to find an elusive compromise on immigration policy — a reflection of the political pressure Democrats face to impose order. on the border.

Senators resumed those negotiations in person Tuesday afternoon after conducting them virtually with participants spread across the country over the holidays last week.

Biden administration officials declined to discuss details of the talks on Tuesday but said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private, that they were moving in the right direction.

Late last month, Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma and the Republican Party’s lead representative in the talks, said negotiators had made “significant progress.” Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and minority leader, said in a joint statement with Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, that they were equally “committed to addressing the needs at the southern border and to helping allies and partners’. face serious threats in Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific.”

But for decades, members of Congress have been unable to reach an agreement on immigration policy, one of the thorniest and most politically charged issues they have faced. And Mr. Johnson has repeatedly indicated that Republicans in the House of Representatives will only accept a deal that mirrors their own tough bill, meaning that any bipartisan deal struck in the Senate could still fail in the other chamber.

“Democrats across the country are beginning to recognize the reality: Transformative changes must happen to secure the border and end the crisis caused by President Biden’s destructive policies,” Mr. Johnson wrote. in a message on X last month. He sent a letter to Mr. Biden condemning Mr. Schumer for dissolving the Senate for a year without bringing a House-approved bill to a vote in his chamber that would restore Trump-era border policies.

On Tuesday, one of Biden’s administration officials said Mr. Johnson and Republicans in the House of Representatives were playing politics instead of working to make meaningful changes.

Part of Mr Johnson’s strategy reflects the pressure he is receiving from the right. Republican Party hardliners are openly opposing the Biden administration’s efforts to arm Ukraine. And Republicans have made a draconian approach to border security — including an overhaul of the country’s asylum laws and a return to detention policies that forced migrants to wait in Mexico before taking their cases to court — a centerpiece of their 2024 campaign message made.

On Tuesday, Representative Chip Roy, Republican of Texas and one of the loudest voices on the far right, dismissed Mr. Johnson’s border visit as a weak gesture. Instead, he said, Republicans should refuse to fund the federal government until the administration either cracks down on cross-border migration or Mr. Biden signs the House-passed border enforcement bill into law.

“It is time to take urgent action,” Mr. Roy wrote in a letter to his colleagues, adding that he would “refuse to fund the United States government, or any foreign government it supports – or otherwise authorize – unless and until it fulfills its constitutional obligation to defend our borders against invasion.”

The threat is potentially powerful as Congress faces back-to-back deadlines on January 19 and February 2 to fund the federal government. Senate leaders have been eyeing the two deadlines as potential opportunities to get lawmakers to vote on a Ukraine border deal, should negotiators succeed in reaching one — despite the fact that Republicans and Democrats have yet to agree on the size of the next expenditure law.

But significant differences remain between the two sides, which would make it difficult for negotiators to finalize an agreement before Congress returns to Washington next week. While the two sides have agreed in principle to make it harder for migrants to seek asylum, increase detentions and enhance the president’s ability to quickly deport those who cross the border illegally, they remain at odds over how and when such powers should be used. – and how to describe those authorities in law.

Hamed Aleaziz reporting contributed.