A concertina rope traces the path as members of Congress stop at a domain near the Texas-Mexico border, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas, U. S. House Speaker Mike Johnson leads about 60 Republican congressional colleagues on a stopover at the border with Mexico. Their arrival comes as they call for tough immigration policies in exchange for supporting President Joe Biden’s wartime emergency investment request for Ukraine. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — U. S. House Speaker Mike Johnson led about 60 Republican congressional colleagues on a stopover at the border with Mexico on Wednesday to call for a tough immigration policy in exchange for President Joe Biden’s wartime emergency investment request for Ukraine. He expressed serious doubts about his bipartisan commitment.
The trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, came as the Senate engages in delicate negotiations in hopes of striking a deal.
As the number of illegal crossings into the U. S. topped 10,000 several days last month, the border city has been in the midst of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, his nearly $10 billion initiative that has tested the federal government’s authority on immigration. and intensified the political struggle over the issue.
A deal that emerged from protracted negotiations in Washington could unblock the Republican Senate for Biden’s $110 billion timeline for Ukraine, Israel and other U. S. security priorities. In the meetings, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz. , James Lankford, R-Okla. , and Chris Murphy, D-Conn. , are looking to make progress before Congress’ return to Washington next week.
But Johnson, R-La. , told The Associated Press on the border tour that he is sticking firmly to the policies of a bill passed by House Republicans in May without a single Democratic vote. This would build more border wall and impose new restrictions. on asylum seekers. Democrats have called the law “cruel” and “anti-immigration,” and Biden has promised a veto.
“If it sounds like H. R. 2, we’ll communicate that,” Johnson said of any border legislation that comes out of the Senate.
At a news conference, Johnson also warned that he could use the looming deadline for government investment as additional leverage.
“If President Biden wants a supplemental spending bill focused on national security, it better begin with defending America’s national security,” he said. Johnson added: “We want to get the border closed and secured first.”
Biden has expressed a willingness to make policy concessions, as the historic number of migrants crossing the border poses a developing challenge to his 2024 reelection campaign. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the White House participated in the Senate negotiations.
“We’ve got to do something,” Biden told reporters Tuesday night. He said Congress would approve his national security proposal because it also includes budget to manage the influx of immigrants. “They give me the money I want to protect the border,” he said.
Administration officials have criticized Johnson’s trip, calling it a political ploy that would not possibly help solve the problem. White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Republicans were compromising national security by threatening to shut down the government and delay approval of investments to bolster border security.
“When they’re at the border, they’re going to see the magnitude of the challenge and why we’ve been saying for about three decades that their damaged immigration formula desperately wants legislative reform,” Mayorkas told CNN on Wednesday. They’re focused on the answers and they’re going to go back to Washington and they’re going to focus on the answers as well. “
House Republicans contend that Mayorkas’ management of the border has amounted to a dereliction of his duties and they are moving ahead with rare impeachment proceedings against a Cabinet member, with a first committee hearing on the matter scheduled for next week. Mayorkas told MSNBC he would cooperate with an inquiry.