Congressional negotiations aimed at imposing tougher immigration and asylum laws to approve a broader aid package have seen progress in the past few days, with senators leading the conversations saying they have moved to discussing funding.
"We're at the point of drafting and finalizing text. We don't have an enormous amount of work left to do," said Senator Chris Murphy, leading the negotiations for the Democratic party. He added that it is "possible" that the bill could already be voted on this week.
The bill is set to impose drastic changes, with leading Republican Senator James Lankford telling NBC News that this will be "by far, the most conservative border security bill in four decades."
The approach also has the backing of President Joe Biden, who said he is willing to make "massive changes" to border policy. "I believe we need significant policy changes at the border, including changes in our asylum system to ensure that we have authorities we need to control the border," Biden said during an event with mayors at the White House. "And I'm ready to act."
Biden is also eager to see the freeing of funding for Israel and Ukraine in their respective wars with Hamas and Russia, which are part of the $106 billion package and tied to the border security negotiations.
Among the main reported changes is the ability for border officials to summarily expel migrants without processing their asylum claims. This would effectively revive the Trump-era Title 42 pandemic order and allow officials to pause U.S. asylum law without a public health justification.
The Biden administration has also reportedly backed the expansion of a process known as expedited removal, which allows officials to deport migrants without court hearings if they don't ask for asylum or if they fail their initial asylum interviews. The program is currently limited to the border region. It would also detain certain migrants allowed into the country pending the adjudication of their claims.
The possibility of granting work permits to asylum seekers was also brought to the negotiating table, something that could make a deal more palatable for some Democrats who have criticized some hardline measures.
According to CBS News, the talks also include potentially giving permanent legal status to tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees and relief to children of immigrants working on H-1B visas for high-skilled workers. Members of this group is often at peril of self-deportation when turning 21 because their status is tied to their parents' visas.
Border security has become a salient talking point for Republicans, who have criticized Biden for what they claim is a lax approach to the border. And it is likely to have an electoral impact as well, as a recent NBC News poll showed that 74 percent of all people surveyed agreed with the need to bolster funding for border security.
The same outlet asked in a separate poll which party handles immigration issues better: 45% of registered voters picked Republicans and only 27% chose Democrats. Moreover, 14% of single-issues voters picked immigration or border security as a top priority.
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