Most Americans are concerned about the immigration crisis.
US-Mexico border/Reuters
The Senate in the United States revealed last night (Sunday) the details of the deal forged between the Democrats and the Republicans in the amount of 118.3 billion dollars to finance new military aid to Ukraine and Israel in addition to tightening immigration laws - but the Republicans in the House of Representatives promised to overturn it, thereby further delaying the supply of its weapons to Kiev.
The aid package, which the Democrats and Republicans in the Senate carried and gave for weeks, includes 60 billion dollars to Ukraine, in accordance with the request of the White House, and 14.1 billion dollars to Israel.
In addition to this, according to the memorandum of law, 20.2 billion dollars will be allocated for the benefit of the border guard and other changes in the immigration system which is under a tremendous load.
Among other things, President Joe Biden would be able, according to this legislation, to refuse asylum seekers if the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border reaches more than 5,000 a week - a figure that has been crossed many times in recent months.
"Biden would immediately use that authority -- which means people crossing the border are generally ineligible for asylum -- if border crossings are at current levels," a White House official said.
"Doing nothing is not an option."
Biden/Reuters
It is not at all certain that the 370-page bill has the support of the 60 senators needed to advance it in the first procedural vote, which is expected no later than Wednesday.
Democrats have a small majority in the 100-member Senate.
Furthermore, the Republicans in the House of Representatives, who hold a small majority in it, have already made it clear that this legislation is not acceptable to them.
Chairman Mike Johnson said it would "arrive dead" in its current configuration.
"This bill is even worse than we expected, and will get us no closer to ending the border disaster the president has created," Johnson wrote in X.
Republicans are under pressure from their expected presidential candidate, Donald Trump, who has called on them to overturn the legislation.
The issue of immigration and the border with Mexico are at the center of his agenda, and he wants to prevent Biden from achieving before the November election.
"As the leader of our party, there is zero chance that I will support this terrible betrayal of open borders in America," Trump said in a speech he gave a few days ago in Las Vegas.
Senators have been negotiating the deal to combat illegal immigration for months, with Republicans insisting on beefing up border security in exchange for approving Biden's funding request to Kiev, which is running out of ammunition.
Biden said in a statement that he strongly supports the deal, which will help Ukraine "defend itself against Russian aggression" and "includes the toughest and fairest series of border reforms in decades."
He urged Republicans to support the bipartisan package.
"If you believe, as I do, that we must secure the border now, doing nothing is not an option," he said.
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Want to prevent Biden from achieving before the election.
Trump/Reuters
Before taking office, Biden promised to restore "humanity" to immigration policy, thus putting an end to the controversial policy from the Trump era, which led to the separation of families at the United States-Mexico border.
However, Republicans describe this policy as a failure and point to record figures from December, during which Border Patrol agents apprehended illegal immigrants in 302,000 cases.
According to the polls, Americans put the immigrant crisis at the top of their list of priorities, and they mainly blame the Democrats for this.
According to the drafters of the reform, it is the most comprehensive that has been formulated for a long time.
"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to close our open border and give future administrations the effective tools they need to stop chaos at the border and protect our nation," said Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the Republican chief negotiator.
He said the bill would put "a huge number of new enforcement tools in the hands of any future administration" and change US policy from "catch and release," which allows undocumented immigrants to remain free while they await their court hearings, to "detain and deport."
Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the legislation a "monumental step," and warned Republicans against rushing to oppose it just because Trump opposes it.
"Senators must shut the door on those who want this agreement to fail for their own political agendas," Schumer said.
If the deal fails in either house, Democrats will argue that Republicans, who have spent the past two years attacking Biden over the surge in immigration, have given up one of their flagships just to please Trump.
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