WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Joe Biden is trying to sweeten his pitch for more money for Ukraine by mixing in billions of dollars for securing the U.S.-Mexico border in the hope that it will bring more Republicans on board.
The idea came up late last month, after Ukraine assistance was stripped out of a stopgap measure to keep the government running due to growing Republican resistance to financing the war effort. A lot has changed since Sept. 30: The House has lost its speaker and Republicans are in disarray over selecting a new one, and the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel has prompted a much bigger funding request by the White House.
It\u2019s not at all clear that including roughly $14 billion in border money included as part of the the $106 billion spending package the White House sent to Congress on Friday will placate those who are resisting.
\u201cThe border has never been a money issue,\u201d said Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas. \u201cIt has always been a policy issue. So we need to get in a room, go to the White House and sort that out.\u201d
The conflict in the Mideast may have pulled some of the spotlight away from the U.S.-Mexico border for now, but the migration challenges facing the U.S. are growing increasingly intractable. Democratic leaders at both the state and local level are begging for federal assistance to help care for migrant families living in squalid shelters and sleeping in police stations. Republicans are loudly critical of Biden\u2019s border policies as too lax. And Congress has not passed an immigration overhaul in decades.
There are rising numbers of migrants at the border; arrests for illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico line were up 21% to 218,763 last month, and Biden has repeatedly said Congress should act to fix outdated immigration laws. But in the meantime, his administration has developed policies that aim to deter migrants from making a dangerous and often deadly journey while also opening up new legal immigration pathways.
The funding request is an attempt not only to manage people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, but also to deal with the growing numbers of migrants who are already here, waiting for their cases to play out.
The White House proposal includes $1.6 billion to hire 1,600 new asylum officers and processing personnel, which could double the number of people working on asylum cases. It also suggests $1.4 billion to add 375 immigration judges and their teams in addition to money for 1,300 new border patrol agents. There is $4.4 billion for Homeland Security efforts, including increased funding for holding facilities as the administration works to quickly deport those who do not qualify for asylum.
\u201cThat\u2019s a real effort and acknowledgement of the backlog that exists,\u201d said Colleen Putzel, an associate policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, an immigration think tank.
There\u2019s also $1.3 billion requested for regional migration centers outside the U.S., a new effort brokered by the Biden administration to encourage would-be migrants to stay where they are and apply for asylum before crossing the deadly Darien gap between South and Central America.
The request also includes $1.4 billion to help state and local governments provide shelter and services for migrants, following pleas from Democratic mayors and governors who want more assistance in caring for newly arriving migrants.
But New York City alone is expecting to spend more than $5 billion on the issue by the end of the budget year. More than 130,600 asylum seekers have come through the city\u2019s intake system since 2022 and there\u2019s been criticism over the conditions under which they are living.
New York Mayor Eric Adams went to Mexico to implore would-be migrants not to come. He has accused the Biden administration of not providing enough money or resources for the city to process migrants, telling reporters in the summer: \u201cThe president and the White House have failed New York City on this issue.\u201d
In Chicago, O\u2019Hare International Airport is now housing hundreds of migrants from babies to the elderly at a shuttle bus center. They sleep on cardboard pads on the floor and share airport bathrooms.
\u201cThe governor has been clear about the state\u2019s urgent need for additional federal resources to address this crisis,\u201d said Alex Gough, speaking for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat. \u201cWhile we are hopeful the Biden administration will be able to take further action soon, allocating any new funding would require the GOP members in the House to get their act together and do their jobs.\u201d
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said the money was \u201curgently needed for states like Massachusetts that are experiencing historic surges in migrant arrivals, and we appreciate the Biden administration\u2019s acknowledgement that these funds need to be distributed more equitably.\u201d
It\u2019s unclear how any spending package can pass. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted by fellow Republicans and there\u2019s no leader in sight. Republicans are already pushing back on using funds to help people who are already in the country, rather than for limiting those at the border. A group of Republican senators met Thursday to discuss proposals that they would support.
After a classified briefing with administration officials on Wednesday, Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said he\u2019d be inclined to support the money for Israel and Ukraine as long as there was a strong border security component. \u201cBut it\u2019s got to be designed to secure the border, not to facilitate travel through the border,\u201d he said.
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn posted online Friday that he supported aid to Israel and Ukraine. \u201cBut without meaningful and substantive policy changes that will address the #BidenBorderCrisis such aid is in serious jeopardy,\u201d he posted on the platform X. \u201cNo more money should be spent simply to facilitate current border policy.\u201d
It\u2019s unclear if compromise is possible on the issue.
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat who leads a Senate panel that oversees funding for the Department of Homeland Security, was wary of mixing any effort to overhaul border policy into a debate over spending.
\u201cHow are we going to settle our differences over immigration in the next two weeks?\u201d Murphy asked. \u201cThis is a supplemental funding bill. The minute you start loading it up with policies, that sounds like a plan to fail.\u201d
Crenshaw, the Texas Republican, said he agreed with the three priorities of the president\u2019s proposal: Ukraine, Israel and the border. \u201cConceptually, we\u2019re on the right track here.\u201d
But he added: \u201cThe sticking point is going to be in the details. The border is not about money; there\u2019s some money that needs to be spent on certain things, but it is way more about policy. And so we\u2019re going to outline very clearly that the policy needs to be effective. When I say that, I mean asylum reform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n