Democrats panic over Biden's plans to bring back Trump-era border policies in exchange for Ukraine funding

• A handful of congressional Democrats are criticizing the Biden administration for its plans to roll back key Trump-era border policies to get Republicans to support funding for Ukraine.
• The White House is open to increasing deportations and detention of illegal immigrants as part of the funding plan, according to CBS News.
• “The fact that we are considering trading the lives of asylum seekers for the lives of Ukrainians is draconian and immoral. We CAN choose policies that recognize our interconnectedness. Let us demonstrate this by showing courage and rejecting this cruel exchange,” he said Illinois Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez.

Several Democrats in Congress voiced opposition to the Biden administration's reported plans to bring back Trump-era policies to secure the southern border in exchange for funding from Ukraine.

The Biden administration is open to bringing back certain Trump-era migrant-deportation policies to get Republicans on board with Ukraine aid. seconds on CBS News. The plans would reportedly include deporting migrants without vetting them for asylum, while increasing deportations and detention, which several Democrats in Congress see as problematic.

“These are the same policies that were weaponized against immigrant communities under the Trump administration and are the basis of President Trump's vision of 'widespread raids, giant camps and mass deportations' for a second term. Destroy the asylum system will not fix the southern border. We have not spent years fighting this agenda under Trump only to now cave in to the extreme demands of Senate Republicans,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, said in a statement Tuesday.

“I urge my colleagues in the Senate to reject these policies and support funding that would give the administration the tools it needs to process asylum seekers, enforce US immigration laws, and provide funding in cities that welcome new migrants. I am ready to work with any of my colleagues who are serious about fixing our broken immigration system and creating the legal pathways we need to ensure an orderly process at the border, but d 'a thoughtful way, not as a ransom demand for the help of Ukraine. “, he continued.

Senate Republicans must stop holding Ukraine's aid hostage in exchange for cruel and ineffective demands on immigration policy. We must reject these absurd proposals, fix our broken immigration system, and pass critical foreign aid.

Read my full statement⬇️https://t.co/whociWNM26

– Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) December 12, 2023

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday to provide “technical assistance” amid the ongoing negotiations, according to CBS News.

The White House indicated it would support a policy similar to Title 42, according to CBS News, which was invoked to deport migrants who crossed the border illegally as a matter of public health during the COVID-19 pandemic and is he allowed them expire by the Biden administration on May 11. He is also said to support the implementation of accelerated nationwide deportations of migrants who do not seek asylum or who fail initial asylum interviews.

Illinois Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez he called the reported plan is “deplorable” in a statement on Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter.

“The fact that we are considering trading the lives of asylum seekers for the lives of Ukrainians is draconian and immoral. We CAN choose policies that recognize our interconnectedness. Let us demonstrate this by showing courage and rejecting this cruel exchange,” he said Ramirez

“Adopting the core principles of Trump's immigration policy is not going to work. And if it's a political calculation, it's bad,” Illinois Democratic Rep. Chuy Garcia. said Tuesday on Twitter. “Getting rid of legal immigration pathways doesn't stop migrants fleeing violence and hunger from arriving, it reduces their pathways to do so safely.”

California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla believes there is “no excuse to entertain the failed immigration policies of the Trump era,” he said in a statement to X

“The White House has not signed off on any particular policy proposal or final agreement, and reporting that it attributes certain policy positions to the White House is inaccurate,” White House spokesman Angelo Fernandez Hernandez told CBS News. “The president has said he is open to compromise, and we look forward to continuing conversations with Senate negotiators as we work toward a bipartisan package.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson renewed House Republicans say they will only support Ukraine aid if it includes funding for border security after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday.

“I've also made it very clear from day one, that our first condition in any supplemental national security spending package is our own national security first,” Johnson said.

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