The US President has agreed to comply with Republican demands on immigration policy to provide aid to Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden has agreed to an immigration deal with the Republican Party to ensure funding for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, January 18.
Specifically, the agreement would limit the ability of migrants to seek US asylum at the southern border in exchange for new military aid for Ukraine and Israel. As the publication notes, such a concession from leftist Biden on immigration is a turning point in his long political career.
Important negotiations and positive signals
According to Voice of America, House Speaker Michael Johnson and other Republicans were able to persuade Biden to make concessions in a face-to-face meeting yesterday. Although the meeting was organized by the White House.
After these negotiations, congressional leaders spoke to reporters and expressed optimism about the chances of getting aid approved in Kyiv. Later, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate would consider a package to help Ukraine and strengthen border security next week.
Democrats control the majority in the Senate and there is unofficial information that they have the necessary 60 votes to vote on aid to Ukraine.
“For the first time, I feel hopeful. For the first time, I think the chances of getting it done in the Senate outweigh the risk of not getting it done,” said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Negotiations on a border security package have made progress in recent weeks and Schumer is “hopeful that things are moving in the right direction,” he said.
At the same time, McConnell expressed uncertainty about the fate of the package in the House of Representatives, where Republicans have a majority and who must also approve the agreement.
A portion of pessimism
And House Speaker Michael Johnson himself doubted to reporters that the funding would be approved quickly. He is critical of the Senate negotiations because Republicans are pushing for stricter immigration policies than Democrats are willing to support.
“Mr. Johnson’s latest ultimatum casts doubt on the prospects for Congress approving Mr. Biden’s request for tens of billions of dollars in emergency security assistance to help Ukraine fight Russia,” said of The New York Times.
As the newspaper notes, the picture is complicated by deep divisions among Republicans on the border issue. The party’s top members in the Senate are willing to compromise on the immigration deal because they believe the party has won significant concessions on border policy from Democrats in recent years.
Other Republicans are pushing for restrictions on parole rights, which would allow some migrants who entered the United States illegally to stay in the country and work until their cases are heard in immigration court. The Biden administration has made it clear that it does not want to remove this right for illegal immigrants, so some Republicans have decided not to support aid to Ukraine and Israel because of this clause.
“If we don’t get parole, there’s no deal,” Sen said. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, to reporters on Wednesday.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.