by Richard Cowan and Costas Pitas
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Sunday unveiled a bipartisan $118 billion bill to fund border security measures and aid to Ukraine and Israel, a deal reached after months of negotiations but which remains fragile, with some Republican elected officials opposing it.
Chuck Schumer, leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, indicated that he would take steps to ensure that an initial vote on the text takes place on Wednesday.
If the bill were to pass, it would trigger the most significant changes to U.S. migration policy and border security in decades.
According to independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema, the text will force the Department of Homeland Security to “close” the southern border of the United States to most migrants if the average of daily crossing attempts exceeds the threshold of 5,000 over a period of seven days.
In addition to $20.23 billion dedicated to border security, the bipartisan text also provides $60 billion in additional aid to Ukraine, whose war against Russia is approaching its second anniversary, and $14.1 billion. security aid to Israel. Ten billion dollars will also be earmarked for humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine.
This bill broadly meets President Joe Biden’s expectations regarding foreign aid. The Democratic tenant of the White House called on Congress in October to approve additional funds for Ukraine and Israel.
But since then, Republicans in the House of Representatives – where they are in the majority – have blocked any progress, seeking to obtain a change in American immigration policy to approve aid to Ukraine and Israel.
Reacting to the agreement announced by the Senate, the leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives declared that the senators’ bill would not give rise to a vote in the House.
“Here’s what the people pushing for this ‘deal’ don’t tell you: it accepts 5,000 illegal migrants per day (…),” wrote Steve Scalise on the social network right in the Senate and the House.
In favor of negotiations between the two parties, Mitch McConnell, leader of the Republicans in the Senate, declared for his part that his party could not obtain a better agreement even if the White House was occupied by a Republican.
In a statement, he called on the Senate to “carefully consider the opportunity that presents itself and prepare to act.”
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week, immigration is the second main concern of Americans, particularly for Republican voters.
(Reporting Richard Cowan and Costas Pitas, with Patricia Zengerle and Makini Brice; French version Jean Terzian)
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