Talks on a border-security deal are grinding on
WASHINGTON — Negotiators rushed to reach a border security deal Sunday that would unlock President Biden’s request for billions of dollars worth of military aid for
Ukraine and other national security needs before senators leave town for the holiday recess.
The Biden administration, which is becoming more deeply involved in the talks, is facing pressure from all sides over any deal. The administration and Senate negotiators had hoped to reach a framework by the weekend, but that’s deeply uncertain.
The talks come as Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner in 2024, delivered anti-illegal immigrant remarks about “blood” purity over the weekend, echoing fascist slogans of World War II to cheers at a political rally.
“They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” Trump said about the record numbers of immigrants coming to the country without immediate legal status.
Speaking in the early-voting state of New Hampshire, Trump, drew on words similar to Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kempf ” as the former president berated
Biden’s team over what has been record numbers of migrants. “All over the world they’re pouring into our country,” Trump said.
All weekend, senators and top Biden officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, have been working intently behind closed doors at the Capitol to strike a border deal, which Republicans in Congress are demanding in exchange for any help for Ukraine, Israel, and other national security needs.
Mayorkas arrived for more talks late Sunday afternoon.
“One step at a time,” said Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, as he and Senator Kyrsten Sinema, the Arizona independent, headed into talks.
While the key senators left Saturday’s talks declaring progress toward a framework, as they consider proposals to limit migrants from entering at the Mexico border, other influential lawmakers are doubtful any deal can be approved by Congress before year’s end.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said senators don’t want to be “jammed” by a last-minute compromise reached by negotiators.
“We’re not anywhere close to a deal,” said Graham, whose staff has joined the talks, on Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Graham predicted the deliberations will go into next year.
The Biden administration faces an increasingly difficult political situation as global migration is on a historic rise, and many migrants are fleeing persecution or leaving war-torn countries for the United States, with smugglers capitalizing on the situation.