Congress working to strike immigration deals

WASHINGTON — A handful of bipartisan senators are working to strike separate 11th-hour immigration deals before Republicans take over the House in January and make the politically tricky agreements even harder to reach.

Senators Kyrsten Sinema Democrat from Arizona, and Thom Tillis, Republican from North Carolina, have outlined a potential immigration proposal that would provide a path to legalization for 2 million undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, known as ‘‘Dreamers,’’ in exchange for at least $25 billion in increased funding for the Border Patrol and border security. The bipartisan framework, which is in flux, would also extend Title 42 for at least a year until new ‘‘regional processing centers’’ provided for in the bill could be built, according to a Senate aide.

Meanwhile, Senators Michael F. Bennet, Democrat from Colorado, and Mike Crapo, Republican from Idaho, are negotiating on a narrower bill based on a House-passed measure that provided a pathway to citizenship for some undocumented farmworkers. The senators have not reached a deal yet but are hoping to get to one before the end of the lame duck session in December, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

The last-minute push comes as Congress faces the end of another term without addressing immigration reforms and as the United States braces for the end of mass expulsions on the Mexican border, as well as the possibility that a federal judge will wind down an Obama-era program that shields ‘‘Dreamers’’ from being deported.

Though negotiations are underway on possible legislation, it’s unlikely that Congress addresses reforms this term as both chambers race to prioritize preventing a government shutdown and pass defense spending with three weeks left before the end of the year.