US House Speaker Mike Johnson will lead about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress on a visit to the Mexican border on Wednesday, where they are demanding tough immigration policies in exchange for supporting President Biden’s emergency funding request for Ukraine. wartime. The trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, comes as the Senate conducts delicate negotiations in hopes of reaching a bipartisan deal.

As the number of illegal crossings into the United States topped 10,000 on several days last month, the border city was the center of Republican government. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, his nearly $10 billion initiative that has tested the federal government’s authority on immigration and intensified political fighting over the issue.

An agreement during the lengthy talks in Washington would free up Republican Party support for Biden’s $110 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. security priorities. During meetings, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.) to make progress before Congress returns to Washington next week.

It is not known whether Johnson, who has called for transformational changes to border and immigration policies, would accept a bipartisan Senate deal. Johnson (R-La.) has pointed to a House bill, passed in May without a single Democratic vote, that would build more of the border wall and impose new restrictions on asylum seekers. Democrats called the legislation cruel and anti-immigrant, and Biden promised a veto.

Nevertheless, the president has expressed willingness to make policy compromises as the historic number of migrants crossing the border poses an increasing challenge to his 2024 re-election campaign. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House aides have been involved in the negotiations in the Senate.

We have to do something,” Biden told reporters on Tuesday evening. He said Congress must approve his national security proposal because it includes money to control the flow of migrants. “They should give me the money I need to protect the border. , he said.

Government officials have criticized Johnson’s trip as a political ploy that will do little to solve the problem.

When they get to the border, they will see the magnitude of the problem and why we have been saying for about 30 years that their broken immigration system desperately needs legislative reform, Mayorkas told CNN on Wednesday. So we are focused on the solutions, and we hope that they will return to Washington and focus on the solutions as well.

House Republicans argue that Mayorkas’ management of the border amounts to a dereliction of his duties and they are moving forward with a rare impeachment of a Cabinet member, with an initial committee hearing on the matter scheduled for next week. Mayorkas told MSNBC he would cooperate with an investigation.

During parts of December, border crossings in Eagle Pass, as well as other locations, overwhelmed the resources of Customs and Border Protection officials. Authorities closed freight rail crossings in Eagle Pass and El Paso for five days and border crossings in the Arizona city of Lukeville.

Authorities say the number of migrants decreased during the December holidays as part of a seasonal pattern. Border crossings are reopening and the number of arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico fell to about 2,500 on Monday, down from more than 10,000 on several days in December, officials said.

We need to fix the border. There is almost unanimous agreement on this between Democrats and Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Wednesday in the US Capitol. He added: Everyone will have to give something to make this happen.

Republicans are pushing Biden and Democrats to adopt strict border measures, and they see the large number of migrants arriving at the border as a political weakness for the president.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in Kentucky on Tuesday in a call with

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The 81-year-old Biden made the case that you can’t do anything about how old you are, you can’t do anything about inflation, but this is something that is measurable and something you can claim.

McConnell also said he approached the talks with optimism that we would somehow get this all done and that we were doing our best.

Senate negotiators have focused on stricter asylum protocols for migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, beefing up border enforcement with more personnel and high-tech systems, and enforcement measures that would kick in if the number of daily crossings reaches a certain threshold exceed.

Murphy, the Democratic Party’s top negotiator, said Tuesday that he hoped that “at some point, Republicans can accept the offer that all of us in the room have been working on together for a long time.”

He expressed concern that the longer the talks go on, the longer Ukraine’s defenses will be left hanging without assured US support in the war with Russia.

The Pentagon announced in late December what officials said could be the final military aid package for Ukraine if Congress does not approve Biden’s funding request. The weapons, worth up to $250 million, include air munitions and other missiles, artillery, anti-armor systems, ammunition, demolition and medical equipment and parts.

Russia has unleashed a series of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine this new year.

“The consequence of Republicans’ decision to tie Ukraine’s funding to the border is that Ukrainians are already in a moment of real crisis,” Murphy said.