Developments
President Biden hosted top congressional leaders at the White House on Wednesday, where senior administration officials urged them to approve a $110.5 billion request for funding for Ukraine, Israel, border efforts, and other priorities. Congressional Republicans are holding up the request with demands for changes to U.S. law that would reduce migrants’ access to asylum and other legal pathways.
Senate leaders said that they are close to a deal that might allow the legislation to move ahead as early as next week. That deal might include a Title 42-like authority to expel asylum seekers, regardless of protection needs, when migrant encounters exceed a daily threshold. It might also require asylum seekers subjected to “credible fear” screening interviews to prove a higher standard of threat.
Democrats continue to resist Republican demands that the deal restrict the 70-year-old presidential authority to grant temporary humanitarian parole to some migrants. Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-South Dakota) said that parole is the chief Republican demand that remains unresolved.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) indicated that his chamber’s Republican majority will demand even stricter measures than what is likely to emerge from Senate negotiations, like a reinstatement of the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy. Republican senators are pushing back, insisting that stricter measures cannot pass the Democratic-majority Senate.
On Wednesday night, Fox News host Laura Ingraham told Speaker Johnson that ex-president Donald Trump told her he opposes the likely Senate deal and wants Johnson to oppose it too. As most House Republicans are tightly loyal to Trump, this is a severe blow to the funding package’s prospects.
- Lisa Mascaro, Seung Min Kim, “Biden Brings Congressional Leaders to White House at Pivotal Time for Ukraine Aid and Us Border Deal” (Associated Press, Associated Press, January 17, 2024).
- Niels Lesniewski, “Biden Meeting Doesn’t Change Contours of Debate Over Ukraine, Border” (Roll Call, January 17, 2024).
- Burgess Everett, “Mcconnell to Speaker Johnson: Prepare to Get a Border-Ukraine Deal From the Senate” (Politico, January 17, 2024).
- Karoun Demirjian, “Johnson Digs in Against Border Deal to Unlock Ukraine Aid, Defying Biden” (The New York Times, January 17, 2024)
- Abigail Hauslohner, Toluse Olorunnipa, “Biden and Top Lawmakers Make Last-Ditch Bid for Ukraine-Border Deal” (The Washington Post, January 17, 2024).
- “Sahil Kapur @Sahilkapur on Twitter” (Twitter, January 17, 2024).
- Burgess Everett, “Johnson Maintains Hardline Border Position Following White House Meeting” (Politico, January 17, 2024).
- “Ursula Perano @Ursulaperano on Twitter” (Twitter, January 17, 2024).
- “Manu Raju @Mkraju on Twitter” (Twitter, January 17, 2024).
- William Vaillancourt, “Mike Johnson Talks ‘Pretty Frequently’ to Trump Over Border” (The Daily Beast, January 17, 2024).
A delegation of Mexican government officials, led by the secretaries of foreign relations, defense, and navy, will be in Washington on Friday to discuss migration with the U.S. secretaries of state and homeland security.
- Gaspar Vela, “Reunion Mexico-Eu en-Washington para Abordar Temas de-Migracion” (Milenio (Mexico), January 17, 2024).
- “Eric Martin @Emposts on Twitter” (Twitter, January 17, 2024).
The House of Representatives passed a brief resolution “denouncing the Biden administration’s open-borders policies.” Fourteen Democrats voted for it, including two representing south Texas border districts.
- H. Res. 957 (U.S. House of Representatives, January 17, 2024).
- Mychael Schnell, Rafael Bernal, “House Approves Resolution Denouncing Biden’s ‘Open-Border Policies’” (The Hill, January 17, 2024).
On Thursday the House Homeland Security Committee will hold its second hearing seeking to establish House Republicans’ case for impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on grounds of failing to secure the border and halt migration. House Republicans are working on a fast timetable, though it is not clear whether they have enough votes to impeach within their own caucus. A letter from 26 former senior DHS officials, from both Republican and Democratic administrations, opposed the impeachment proceedings.
- Rebecca Beitsch, “Gop Memo Shows Plans for Mayorkas Impeachment Markup on Jan. 31” (The Hill, January 17, 2024).
- “Anna Giaritelli @anna_giaritelli on Twitter” (Twitter, January 17, 2024).
Late Wednesday, Texas authorities announced their first arrests of migrants, on state trespassing charges, in a large park along the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass where police and national guardsmen have barred Border Patrol from operating for the past seven days.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had given Texas until the end of the day Wednesday to rescind its order and allow Border Patrol to operate in Shelby Park, at which time it would refer the matter to the Department of Justice. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton published a letter on Wednesday rejecting DHS’s demand.
A woman and two children from Mexico drowned in the river near the park last Friday night; Texas’s ban left Border Patrol agents unable to be present to detect or rescue them.
- Alisha Ebrahimji, Aya Elamroussi, Rosa Flores, Sara Weisfeldt, “Texas Authorities Have Begun Arresting Migrants at a Public Park Near the Us-Mexico Border” (CNN, January 18, 2024).
- Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “Texas Defies Federal Threat to Abandon Border Area, Setting Up Legal Showdown” (CBS News, January 17, 2024).
- Paul J. Weber, Valerie Gonzalez, “What to Know About Texas’ Clash With the Biden Administration Over Border Patrol Access” (Associated Press, Associated Press, January 17, 2024).
- Alexandra E. Petri, “What We Know About the Migrant Drownings at Texas Border” (The Los Angeles Times, January 17, 2024).
In an unusual move, the federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to reconsider its December ruling ordering Texas to remove a 1,000-foot string of buoys placed down the middle of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass. Texas had asked the court for an “en banc” hearing of all 17 of its active judges, a request that gets granted only about 1 percent of the time. That hearing will happen in May; in the meantime, the buoys may remain in the river. Most of the Circuit’s 17 active judges are Republican appointees, though the 3-judge panel that ordered the buoys removed included 2 Democratic appointees.
- Daniel Wiessner, “Us Court Will Reconsider Forcing Texas to Remove Rio Grande Migrant Barrier” (Reuters, Reuters, January 17, 2024).
- Kierra Frazier, “Texas River Border Buoys to Stay in Place While 5th Circuit Rehears Case” (Politico, January 17, 2024).
Very low temperatures are threatening asylum seekers gathered outdoors along the border, especially in southern Arizona and in Matamoros, Mexico across from Brownsville, Texas. As many as 1,000 people await processing in the Tohono O’odham Nation lands along the border in remote desert southwest of Tucson, and others continue to arrive near Sásabe, just west of Nogales.
After a night in crowded shelters in Matamoros, most migrants waiting in an outdoor camp have returned to a precarious tent encampment despite the freezing temperatures. The Sidewalk School, a charity that operates in Matamoros and Reynosa, is appealing for donations to help provide for them.
- Emily Bregel, “Life-Threatening Cold, ‘Sanitation Crisis’ for Migrants at Arizona-Mexico Border” (The Arizona Daily Star, January 18, 2024).
- “Thesidewalkschool @Sidewalkschool on Twitter” (Twitter, January 17, 2024).
On the Right
- Terence Jeffrey, “No Crisis at Border, Biden Says” (The Daily Signal, January 17, 2024).
- “Country Brief: Venezuela” (Federation for American Immigration Reform, January 17, 2024).