House Speaker Mike Johnson sent a letter to all House Republicans on Friday expressing opposition to detailed coverage of the border security agreement being negotiated in the Senate.
The Senate is currently considering Republican demands for increased border security and reforms to the immigration parole process for asylum seekers in exchange for allowing aid to be used for Ukraine's war against Russia. After details of the plan were reported, Prime Minister Johnson indicated he would not support it if it was included, according to a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. (Related article: Senate Democrats aim to gain immigration removal power amid concerns about President Trump)
“As the House of Lords does not appear to have reached an agreement, I wanted to provide a brief update on additional provisions and borders,” Johnson began in the letter. “If the rumors about the contents of the draft were true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House of Commons anyway.”
Letter from Chairman Mike Johnson dated January 26, 2024 by Daily Caller News Foundation On Scribd
Negotiations currently being led by Republican Sen. James Lankford (Oklahoma), Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy (Connecticut), and independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona) are not yet complete. No draft proposal has been made public. However, multiple media outlets have published reports that question the terms of the agreement, sparking a backlash from conservatives.
One suspicious aspect of this transaction is that report According to the New York Times, it concerns reform of “humanitarian parole.” Parole is a grant by the Department of Homeland Security that allows some foreign nationals fleeing persecution to temporarily remain in the United States without obtaining a visa. The Biden administration is issued Grant parole status to millions of foreign nationals from countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.
Republicans are seeking to drastically reduce the issuance of parole for asylum-seeking aliens who turn themselves in at ports of entry or cross the border illegally. A draft bill in the Senate would reportedly add detention capacity for U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to prevent the issuance of parole for illegal immigrants (done due to lack of space). ), the Times reported.
The agreement also includes a threshold for the number of migrant encounters per day, at which point parole and foreign immigration processing will reportedly be suspended. That threshold is reportedly 5,000 per day, but that number is far below the number of migrants the Border Patrol currently encounters per day, the Times reported.
“[T]We need strict limits on parole,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
“[T]”We all want this outcome, but this outcome is horrible for the American people,” Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said Thursday at a press conference against the deal, calling it “a stinking piece of junk.” “Mountain,” he said. according to To The Hill.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell supports the deal. according to According to a report by Politico. Commenting on McConnell's views on the issue, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said, “He fully supports the border bill and support for Ukraine, and any campaign politics will weigh against his support.'' I don't intend to get in the way.”
In 2023, the House of Representatives passed HR 2, known as “.border security law”, which served as the border security agency’s proposal in the negotiations. The bill would appropriate funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, bar illegal immigrants from asylum status, and expand law enforcement authority to remove deportable aliens. The content is as follows.
But other Republicans have criticized the alleged parole reform as not being tough enough. Former President Donald Trump, the party's front-runner for the presidential nomination, said, “What we're doing now in the Senate is going to be meaningless in terms of border security and border closures.” statement.
Democrats, by contrast, want to maintain parole powers and limit the deportation of foreign nationals who have long been in the country but are ordered deported from the United States. “A nationwide rapid removal is an extremely dangerous step.” Said California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla on NBC.
“I want to emphasize today that House Republicans firmly oppose any White House or Senate policy proposals that would further encourage illegal aliens to violate our laws,” Johnson said.
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