Senate leaders on Sunday announced details of a long-awaited comprehensive border security bill that would include a significant foreign aid component.
This discussion, led by Senators James Lankford (RO), Christine Sinema (I-AZ), and Chris Murphy (D-CT), took place after months of negotiations with the Biden administration to resolve the ongoing crisis. I'm trying. America's southern border and foreign policy commitments abroad.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, argues that the 370-page deal reflects weeks of good-faith negotiations while balancing domestic concerns with urgent international assistance needs.
Prime Minister Murray said in a statement: “Ukraine lacks the ammunition to stop President Putin’s brutal invasion, so it is urgent that we finally expand support.”
As reported gateway expertThe $118.28 billion Comprehensive National Security Supplemental Package, totaling $118.28 billion, allocates a whopping $60.06 billion to Ukraine in response to Russia's aggressive military actions.
By contrast, $20.23 billion has been allocated to U.S. border security efforts. This imbalance in funding allocation has fueled and sparked debate about Senate priorities at a time when domestic border security concerns persist.
According to Murray, the $118.28 billion supplemental national security package includes:
- $60.06 billion to support Ukraine in its fight against President Putin's bloody invasion and in protecting its people and sovereignty.
- $14.1 billion in Israeli security assistance.
- $2.44 billion to support U.S. Central Command operations and address combat spending related to the Red Sea conflict.
- $10 billion in humanitarian assistance to provide food, water, shelter, health care and other essential services to civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine, and other populations trapped in conflict zones around the world.
- $4.83 billion is needed to support key regional partners in the Indo-Pacific and deter Chinese government aggression.
- $2.33 billion to continue support for Ukrainians displaced by Putin's war of aggression and other refugees fleeing persecution.
- Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and James Lankford (R-OK) negotiated bipartisan border policy changes.
- $20.23 billion is needed to address existing operational needs and expand border capacity, resource new border policies included in the package, and disrupt the flow of fentanyl and other drugs.
- that much Fentanyl Eradication and Drug Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act.
- $400 million for the Nonprofit Security Grants Program to help non-profit organizations and places of worship increase security.
RINO Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement today:
“For the past four months, the United States has had the highest number of illegal border crossings each month, with December setting a U.S. record with more than 300,000 illegal border crossings. This averages out to nearly 10,000 people per day. In December alone, nearly 45,000 people crossing the southern border received work permits and parole status on the day of arrival as a 'reward' for passing through ports of entry, which only encouraged more people to enter the country.
“Our immigration hearings have been delayed for years, leaving millions of non-citizens adrift in our country. Over the past three years, more than 8 million people have crossed the southern border illegally, costing the country billions of dollars and driving record levels of fentanyl, crime and homelessness.
“Even if President Biden doesn’t acknowledge it, this is a crisis. We need to secure our borders now. I can't wait any longer.
“Americans are not opposed to legal and orderly immigration, but they are tired of chaos and abuse at the border. I am pleased to announce that we finally have a strong bill text to add to the supplemental funding bill. Most senators have already been briefed on the bill's contents, but the final version is expected to be distributed to senators soon and posted online within a day.
“The border security bill would put a huge number of new enforcement tools in the hands of future administrations and put pressure on this administration to finally stop the illicit flow. The bill provides funding to build a wall, improve border technology and add detention facilities, agents and deportation flights. The border security bill would end parole abuses on the southwest border, which has left more than a million people exempt. It dramatically changes our vague asylum laws by implementing faster reviews with a higher standard of evidence, limiting appeals, and expediting deportation.
“The new ban on asylum status will prevent criminal cartels from exploiting our current weak immigration laws. The bill also includes a new emergency authority to close borders when they are breached, a new hiring authority to quickly increase the number of police officers, and a new hearing authority to quickly apply penalties for illegal crossings. This changes our borders from arrest and release to detention and deportation.
“Our immigration laws have been weak for years. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to close open borders and give future administrations the effective tools they need to stop border chaos and protect our country.”
The proposed legislation would give the Secretary of Homeland Security unprecedented emergency powers to manage special immigration cases that occur at the U.S. border. This new “border emergency authority” is designed specifically to respond to a surge in migration that overwhelms existing border security and immigration processing capabilities.
This bill sets clear criteria for the activation of this emergency authority.
“Border emergency authority,” according to a summary of the bill. In May The 7-day average cumulative number of encounters with foreigners who cannot enter the country is 4,000 to 5,000 per day. ~ have to Exercised when the 7-day average exceeds 5,000 per day. Exercise of authority essential If the number of encounters per day exceeds 8,500. Unaccompanied minors from non-contiguous countries shall not be included in the total number of encounters for purposes of this section.”
Here's how it works in simple terms:
- If over the course of a week the number of people showing up at the border without entry rights is between 4,000 and 5,000 each day, the government may decide to use this special tool.
- If the average number of people per day exceeds 5,000, the government must use it.
- Additionally, if more than 8,500 people show up without permission in a single day, the government must immediately use this tool.
However, there are important exceptions. This number does not include children coming to the border alone from countries not next to the United States.
more:
- If the use of emergency powers is authorized, the Secretary will have the authority to bar entry into the United States of all individuals except unaccompanied minors between ports of entry, and may only screen individuals for eligibility for withholding of removal or protection under United Nations conventions. torture. At the same time, U.S. Customs and Border Protection must continue to process at least 1,400 inadmissible aliens per day through Southwest land ports of entry under expedited removal or the section 235B non-custodial removal procedures included in this title to ensure that access to the asylum system is maintained. do. Available.
- The Secretary must cease exercising border emergency powers within 14 days of the seven-day average number of encounters falling below 75% of the total number of such encounters that initially authorized the Secretary to exercise border emergency powers.
- Provides that the authority shall not be active for more than 270 days in the first year, 225 days in the second year, and 180 days in the third year.
- Authorizes the president to urgently suspend the border emergency for up to 45 days if it is in the national interest.
- Provides that the United States District Court for the District of Columbia shall have sole and exclusive jurisdiction over all matters arising from the authority of the Secretary exercising border emergency powers.
- Imposes a one-year ban on aliens who have been deported more than twice under border emergency authorities.
This new bill will also provide for work permits. “If an alien is released from detention after a positive credit fear screening, the alien must first pass a high credit fear screening and then pass the criteria to obtain a work permit. This provision does not grant the right to release from detention, the right to work authorization for aliens who have crossed the border illegally, or modify the employment authorization process for aliens who have not been screened under the enhanced credit fear standards. This provision changes current law that allows aliens to obtain work permits simply by applying for asylum without screening, now requiring aliens to first pass a high-credibility fear test and any asylum bar, including the persecutor standard. No crime, no terrorism, no corporate resettlement, no internal relocation – before obtaining a work permit. ”
Read a summary of the bill below.