Senators released the full text of their bipartisan border security agreement late Sunday, which, if passed, would impose new immigration and asylum laws and would also provide funding assistance for Ukraine and Israel.
The summary of the $118 billion package lists aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, plus a number of provisions aimed at the border crisis granting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary “new emergency authority to respond to extraordinary migration circumstances”.
According to the bill, “the ‘border emergency authority’ may be exercised if the 7-day average number of cumulative encounters of inadmissible aliens is between 4,000 and 5,000 per day and must be exercised if the 7-day average is above 5,000 per day.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a released statement, “The Senate’s bipartisan agreement is a monumental step towards strengthening America’s national security abroad and along our borders. This is one of the most necessary and important pieces of legislation Congress has put forward in years to ensure America’s future prosperity and security.”
President Joe Biden celebrated the bipartisan Senate National Security Agreement, claiming in a statement that “it will make our country safer, make our border more secure, treat people fairly and humanely while preserving legal immigration, consistent with our values as a nation. It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed.”
“The bipartisan national security agreement would also address two other important priorities. It allows the United States to continue our vital work, together with partners all around the world, to stand up for Ukraine’s freedom and support its ability to defend itself against Russia’s aggression,” Biden continued, adding, “This agreement also provides Israel what they need to protect their people and defend itself against Hamas terrorists. And it will provide life-saving humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people.”
The question remains if Biden will use the bipartisan legislation (if passed) as he stated on January 26 “to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed.” The President claimed then that the current bill “if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a statement on the new supplemental legislation claiming, “For three years, the American people have endured both a border crisis and the open-borders agenda that caused it. President Biden’s campaign promise to welcome illegal aliens at the border overwhelmed a broken asylum system that unified Republican government had tried desperately to fix in the face of Democrat obstruction. His Administration took away critical tools like ‘Remain in Mexico’ and strong enforcement priorities that CBP and ICE had relied on to stem the tide of illegal arrivals.”
McConnell continued, “The Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border created an unprecedented crisis, and the urgent humanitarian and security consequences affect every state. It is time to force the President to start cleaning up his mess and equip future leaders with a system that works and new emergency tools to restore order.”
Understanding the need to put an end to the ongoing border crisis, Schumer related that “In the coming days, the Senate must act decisively on this emergency national security supplemental funding. On Monday, I will take the first procedural step to getting this passed in the Senate with the first vote scheduled for Wednesday. This is too important to let the calendar get in the way of passing this bill.”
However, optimism over the bill’s passage didn’t last long as members of the House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives in Congress are reportedly taking a stand against the legislation.
As The New American reported:
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) stated the bipartisan Senate border security bill will be “dead on arrival” if it reaches the House of Representatives, saying on X, “I’ve seen enough. This bill is even worse than we expected, and won’t come close to ending the border catastrophe the President has created. As the lead Democrat negotiator proclaimed: Under this legislation, ‘the border never closes.’ If this bill reaches the House, it will be dead on arrival.”
