The plan on migration and aid to Ukraine and Israel is in danger in the US Senate due to Republican rejection

The bill that applies new and tougher immigration controls, in addition to authorizing a new shipment of aid for Ukraine and Israel, has taken four months to reach consensus in the US Senate, but it only took hours for it to be on the brink. of failure.

The lack of support among Republicans—even among those who helped in the negotiation—and criticism from Donald Trump condemn it to languish without even being voted on.

Assistance to kyiv at a key moment in the war, like the rest of the items provided for in the proposal, is precipitated into legislative limbo.

The president, Joe Biden, the great defender of the measure, has accused his predecessor of boycotting the text for electoral reasons.

“All indications are that this bill will not even come to a vote in the Senate.

Because?

For one simple reason: Donald Trump.

Because Donald Trump believes that he is harming him politically,” Biden declared in a speech at the White House.

“[The bill] will make the country safer.

“It will make the border more secure, treat people more humanely and fairly, and make legal immigration more efficient, in accordance with our nation's values ​​and our international treaty obligations,” Biden added.

“Doing nothing is not an option.

For years, Republicans have called for strengthening the border.

Now they have a bill that reinforces it more than ever, and we are seeing all kinds of statements against it,” the president added.

Trump, who has publicly declared against the measure, “needs an argument to fight in the campaign” and he wants it to be this, the White House tenant has maintained.

The measure, which has received the support of the Border Patrol, has received criticism from both the progressive wing of the Democrats and, above all, from the Republican opposition, which is preparing to veto the debate and vote on the bill this week. .

Thus, she would be left in limbo for weeks, if not months.

A meeting of conservative senators on Monday night showed the strong animosity towards the project.

After 90 minutes of debate, the leader of the Republican minority, Mitch McConnell, recommended his legislators vote “no” if the content of the proposal did not convince them.

Few expressed their support for the text.

Negotiations on the bill had begun in October, when Biden asked Congress for an additional national security allocation of nearly $120 billion.

Of them, more than half are planned for military and economic aid to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion;

nearly 14 billion would be dedicated to assisting Israel in the war in Gaza;

the rest, to collaborate with Taiwan and strengthen border control, among other objectives.

A group of senators from both parties have since debated how to harmonize the president's request with Republican demands that demanded a reform that would tighten the immigration system to say yes to funds for Ukraine.

A “terrible” measure, according to Trump

In January, Donald Trump, favorite in his party's primaries, spoke out against the measure.

Although he did not know its content—the negotiators themselves had not finished drafting it—he attacked the proposal at a rally, stating that it was “terrible.”

Since then, Republican legislators have been aligning themselves with the theses of who, today, is the undisputed leader of the party.

And they refuse to give the Biden Administration anything that could seem like a victory, in the middle of an election year, and even less so in immigration matters, where voters favor the Republicans.

“Let's not be STUPID!

We need a separate law on border and immigration.

It should not be linked to foreign aid in any way, shape or form! ”Trump wrote on his social network, Truth Social.

On Sunday the agreed text was announced.

The White House issued a statement expressing its satisfaction and urging Congress to vote on the measure as soon as possible.

However, this Monday, even the Republican senators who participated in the negotiations admitted that the future of the measure is not at all clear.

This Tuesday, Senator John Thune indicated that it is “unlikely” that his caucus will give the go-ahead to proceed with the vote, which Democratic majority leader Charles Schumer wants to hold on Wednesday.

“I think our members want more time to evaluate [the bill],” said the Republican, who, despite everything, left open the possibility of a later vote.

“After months of good faith negotiations, after months of giving Republicans many of the things they asked for, Leader McConnell and the Republican group are willing to tear down the supplemental national security appropriation, even if it contains the border provisions that they had demanded so fervently,” Schumer defended.

In the House of Representatives, the measure is even less likely to pass.

There, the Republicans have the majority – although by just a handful of votes – and the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has already assured that the bill is “deadborn” in this forum.

The Republican caucus plans to vote instead on a bill that is reduced solely to aid to Israel.

He has also initiated proceedings for an impeachment trial against the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, whom he accuses of lying to Congress and allowing an excessively lax immigration policy and thereby failing to fulfill the duties of his office.

For Trump and Republicans, keeping the immigration debate alive is something that can bring them electoral advantages in this campaign.

Last year, records were broken for irregular entries, 2.4 million people, 14% more than the previous year;

In December, the Border Patrol detained nearly 250,000 people trying to cross the border illegally, the highest number in decades.

The tactic of the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, of sending buses loaded with these migrants to cities with a Democratic majority - Chicago, Denver, New York, Washington DC - has also opened the debate in places where until now liberal immigration reform was supported.

Anti-immigration positions have reinforced Trump in his battle in the primaries and the former president perceives that he can win votes for the November elections if he portrays Biden as weak and willing to keep the borders “open.”

At the same time, the Republican rejection of the bill - and which includes many of its claims - provides an argument to its Democratic rivals, who can describe the rejection as a purely electoral movement and accuse them of not really wanting to solve the problem. .

A survey for ABC, conducted in November, concluded that 36% of Americans said they trusted Republicans more to maintain the security of the immigration system, compared to 24% who trusted Democrats more.

Last month, a series of polls indicated that only 29% approved of immigration management, while 63% disapproved.

For its part, Gallup polls suggest that as the number of arrests at the border has increased, voters' concern about the issue has also grown.

If in June of last year, when few crossings were detected, only 9% of independents considered immigration a priority, now 16% of this group see it that way.

And this segment of the electorate may hold the key to the White House.

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