Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, an Independent, has proposed a bipartisan border compromise, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) of Louisiana might be convinced to support it. Although a Senate agreement has not been reached as of yet, Sinema assured Johnson and other House members that they will have plenty of time to learn about it and ask questions.
When asked about such deals last month, Johnson warned they would be “dead on arrival” in the House.
The text of a $118 billion plan, which would link substantial additional foreign aid to the first significant reform of the nation’s immigration system in years, was revealed by a bipartisan group of senators.
Senators Kyrsten Sinema, James Lankford, and Chris Murphy spearheaded the four-month negotiating process that resulted in the compromise. To examine the bill, the Senate must get 60 votes in a procedural vote on Wednesday. Whether or not the necessary number of Republicans will be willing to back the effort to break the filibuster remains an open question.
Instead of funding immigration, the bulk of the $118.2 billion package would go toward foreign assistance. Additional funding of $20.23 billion for the southern border to tighten immigration enforcement and institute new laws regarding migrants is also included in the Senate plan. The bill desperately tries to win over enough Republicans to pass through a divided Congress by tying foreign funding to immigration policy.
An endorsement that raises red flags for conservatives comes from Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, who stated that the plan takes steps to address decades of Congress’s inaction. He called the plan “fair.”
Democrat cynics claim Trump, the former president, is opposed to passing a law because he sees the border situation more as a political football than a real problem that needs fixing. They say others, such as Kari Lake, an Arizona candidate for the US Senate, are joining him in the hypocritical endeavor.
Many wonder why the border can’t simply be shut down.
