A group of Congressmembers are poised to form a deal with the Biden administration that would implement new controls on the US southern border, including a renewed ability to pause asylum processing altogether during surges of migrant crossings, according to three anonymous insiders contacted by CBS News.
Three senators—James Lankford (R-OK), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ)—have been meeting with White House staff for weeks to discuss the border crisis, which resulted in a bill that could be revealed this week. President Joe Biden publicly endorsed the bill on Friday in a written statement, describing it as “the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country.”
He explains that it includes funding requests for 1,300 additional border patrol agents, 375 immigration judges, 1,600 asylum officers, and more than 100 machines that can detect drugs like fentanyl at migrant processing sites. “Securing the border through these negotiations is a win for America,” he wrote. “If you’re serious about the border crisis, pass a bipartisan bill and I will sign it.”
In addition to the asylum suspensions, it would also return more deportation powers to the federal government.
There's a technical term for what Biden is saying about the border: a lie.
Three of Joe Biden's decisions caused the border crisis:
1. He stopped construction on the wall.
2. He reinstated catch-and-release.
3. He rescinded the remain in Mexico agreement. pic.twitter.com/d2Fz5fh0Lf
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 27, 2024
But it is not likely the bill will satisfy members of the House who take a more hardline stance on immigration, such as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who has shown support for a much stricter bill known as HR 2. That bill passed in the House last year without any Democratic support and could not gain traction beyond that.
“If you don’t end catch and release as a policy, if you don’t reinstitute Remain in Mexico, if you only fix asylum or parole and not these other things, then you don’t solve the problem. You don’t stem the flow here,” Johnson said earlier this month. “That’s the number one objective so that we can get a handle on this crisis.”
Johnson said this new bill is “dead on arrival,” especially because it contains funding provisions for Ukraine according to rumors.
Former President Donald Trump slammed the bill during a Las Vegas campaign rally on January 27th, saying he would “rather have no bill than a bad bill.”
Learn the benefits of becoming a Valuetainment Member and subscribe today!
“As the leader of our party, there is zero chance I will support this horrible open borders betrayal of America,” Trump swore to his supporters. “I’ll fight it all the way. A lot of the senators are trying to say, respectfully, they’re blaming it on me. I say, that’s okay. Please blame it on me. Please.”
Trump claimed the presidential powers to shut down asylum outlined in the bill are redundant and unnecessary, a position shared by Johnson. “If Joe Biden truly wanted to secure the border, he doesn’t really need a bill,” Trump said at the rally in Nevada, whose primary is set for February 8th. “I did it without a bill.”
In a statement released Thursday, Trump also knocked the bill as a scheme to improve optics for the Biden administration, which is suffering from poor perception at the moment. “A Border Deal now would be another Gift to the Radical Left Democrats,” Trump said. “They need it politically.”
Watch Patrick Bet-David dive deep into the migration crisis below, or read a text version of the article here.
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
Add comment