Deal near on border fence

US congressional negotiators say an “agreement in principle” has been reached on border security funding, potentially averting another round of federal shutdowns.

Speaking after a meeting of negotiators, US Republican senator Richard Shelby did not give an outline of the tentative deal.

But three people familiar with the deal said the accord would provide $1.375 billion to build 88km of new border barriers. That’s well below the $5.7 billion President Donald Trump demanded to build more than 320km of wall along the Mexican boundary. The include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and American civil rights activist Tommie Smith. money will be for vertical steel slats called bollards, not a solid wall.

Democrats, meanwhile, dropped their proposal to limit the number of detained immigrants caught inside the US to a daily average of 16,500.

Bargainers agreed to fund 40,520 beds to detain immigrants entering or in the US illegally. That’s the same number funded last year, though the actual figure held is around 49,000.

The negotiators had worked into the night in hopes of striking a deal on funding border security through September 30. Now they will need the support of Mr Trump, whose signature will be needed ahead of the deadline at midnight Friday.

If politicians don’t act, hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed for a second time this year.

Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an order withdrawing more than two-thirds of the state’s National Guard troops from the US-Mexico border, calling claims of an illegal immigration crisis nothing but “political theatre”.

The governor said border crossings were at their lowest level since 1971.