US senators have reached a bipartisan agreement on a national security Bill that aims to secure the border and fix the nation’s broken immigration system.
The proposed legislation includes a tough and fair set of border reforms and provisions to grant new aid to Ukraine and Israel.
The bill would introduce measures to try to control illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border, which is at record level, and to stop the abuse of parole.
It is estimated that an average of 10,000 people a day are crossing the borders to the United States illegally. December 2023 set a record in this trend.
The end of catch-and-release policy that hands out work permits for free along the southwest border, and the abuse of humanitarian parole, is expected stop at least half-a-million border crossings every year.
The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act creates a new mandatory Border Emergency Authority that allows the President and Secretary of Homeland Security to shut down the border when the system is overwhelmed. It has provisions for legal consequences for anyone who tries to return after deported, and to end massive caravans of migrants flowing over the border from Latin American countries.
If the average number of border crossings exceeds 5,000 people a week, everyone crossing illegally will be rapidly deported out of the country without an asylum screening.
The Bill provides 50,000 detention beds, more ICE agents, deportation flights, and asylum officers to keep more people in custody while processing.
It prohibits illegal migrants who could have relocated within their home country from being eligible for asylum in the US.
It provides new expedited removal authority to ensure illegal migrants are removed within 90 days.
$650 million will be earmarked to build and reinforce miles of new border wall, an idea originally conceived by former President Donald Trump.
Currently, the process to get to a final decision on a migrant’s asylum claim can take 5 to 7 years. Once fully implemented, this bipartisan agreement would give the Administration the authority and resources to reduce that process to 6 months.
This bill provides work authorization to approximately 25,000 K-1, K-2, and K-3 non-immigrant visa holders (fiance or spouse and children of U.S. citizens) per year, and about 100,000 H-4 spouses and children of certain H-1B non-immigrant visa holders who have completed immigrant petitions (temporary skilled workers) per year. They no longer have to apply and wait for approval before they can begin working in the United States.
The $120 billion funding deal has set aside $60 billion to support Ukraine in the war against Russia, and $14 billion in security aid for Israel.
With funds to arm Ukraine exhausted, U.S. Defense officials had warned that without action from Congress, further U.S. assistance for Ukraine could be in jeopardy at a critical time as Russia’s war approaches the two-year mark.
Republicans defeated a foreign aid Bill for Ukraine in the Senate in December in protest against the package’s lack of changes to border and immigration policy.
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