The $110 billion proposed bill from the Democrats includes around $10 billion for border patrol, counter-narcotics, and immigration enforcement operations. This comes as Senate Republicans are demanding stronger border security measures in exchange for their support for President Joe Biden’s request to fund new Ukraine-related aid.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has expressed his desire for “meaningful changes to the border” and has urged fellow Republicans to oppose the motion to proceed to the shell. President Biden has proposed a $105 billion supplemental spending request, which includes additional tens of billions for Israeli national security, international humanitarian efforts, and security personnel and equipment along the U.S. southern border. On Dec. 5, Senate Democrats submitted a $111 billion bill that largely follows President Biden’s proposed supplemental request.
Some Senate Republicans are opposed to President Biden’s new spending for Ukraine and are not swayed by the additional funding for U.S. border security. While many Republicans and conservatives have raised concerns about U.S. border security, some believe the best solution is to address asylum and parole policies that incentivize illegal border crossings.
Mr. McConnell’s comments encouraging fellow Republicans to oppose the new spending supplemental without “meaningful changes to the border” could prevent the bipartisan support needed to pass President Biden’s supplemental funding request. The Democrats currently control 51 Senate seats and would need at least nine Republicans to pass any legislation based on the supplemental funding request the president outlined.
The $111 billion spending bill announced by Senate Democrats fulfills many of the requests in President Biden’s $105 billion supplemental request, including funds for Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza. The bill allocates funds for direct Department of Defense support, U.S. industrial base support, State Department economic assistance, and global humanitarian assistance efforts.
In addition to border patrol and immigration enforcement operations, the Democrats’ bill would allocate funds to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and immigration judges and their staff. However, the legislation does not include changes to the U.S. asylum and immigration parole processes that many Senate Republicans have requested.
While Senate Republicans are demanding changes in border and immigration policy before they will agree to a new supplemental spending bill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has indicated that they should make those requests through an amendment to the Democrats’ proposal. Nonetheless, he has criticized Republicans for continuing to insist on their border policy changes without going through the prescribed amendment process.