Senators reach a deal on border policy bill. Now it faces an uphill fight to passage

WASHINGTON —  Senate negotiators on Friday reached a deal on a proposal to overhaul the asylum system at the U.S. border with Mexico, clearing the way for Democratic and Republican Senate leaders to begin the difficult task of convincing Congress to pass a national security package that will include tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine and immigration enforcement, as well as funding for Israel and other American allies.

Sen. Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut, the lead Democratic negotiator, posted on social media Friday that a deal had been reached and that text of the bill would be released over the weekend. Senators are still working on finishing the rest of the package, which was initiated by a request from President Biden for$110 billion for wartime aid for allies, domestic defense manufacturing, humanitarian assistance for conflicts around the world and managing the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Senators are preparing for a key test vote on the package next week, but it already faces a steep climb through Congress. Republicans in both chambers have balked in recent weeks. Border policy changes are included because Senate Republicans had initially demanded them, but Donald Trump, the GOP’s leading presidential candidate, has become a vocal opponent of the legislation, and many Republican lawmakers followed.

“Republicans said the border is a priority and we should craft a bipartisan bill to help control the border. We did that. We have a deal,” Murphy said on the platform X. He added: “It’s decision time.”

The core group of negotiators has been laboring for months to craft a package that can win support from a bipartisan coalition of moderates in Congress. As they prepared to allow the details of the bill to be scrutinized, it remained to be seen whether they could cobble together the requisite support from both sides.

“The criticisms are based on rumors and misconceptions,” Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent who was central to crafting the bill, said Thursday.

Senate Democrats, increasingly wary of the political vulnerabilities facing Biden and their party on immigration, have become more comfortable with the contours of the package, though progressive and Latino members of the House are expected to oppose the border policy changes in droves if it passes the Senate.

Many conservatives oppose continued funding for Ukraine as well as compromises on border enforcement. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has repeatedly declared he won’t compromise on hard-line border enforcement measures, but he has said he will not pass final judgment until he is able to read the bill.

As GOP lawmakers assess the political repercussions of enacting immigration laws in an election year, many Trump allies have argued that Congress does not need to act because presidents have enough authority on the border. And in a sign they will try to stop the bill from advancing to a final vote, some lobbied leaders to give them weeks to make further changes through committee hearings.

“I think we’ve pretty much been held hostage by the Republican leadership. The Republican leadership pushed this on us,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Thursday on Stephen K. Bannon’s podcast. “And now if we don’t pass something, we’re going to look bad in the eyes of the American people. But I’m just telling people right now we do not need a border policy. We already have one intact.”

The legislation, Sinema said, largely focuses on a challenge that administrations of both parties have grappled with: how to tamp down the growing number of people who come to the border seeking protection from persecution for their race, religion, political affiliation or membership in a discriminated group.

Asylum is a key part of international law and the United States’ ability to advance human rights, but the system has become overwhelmed in recent years with asylum applications, creating years-long waits for asylum cases to be heard, even though many migrants fail to prove their asylum case in the end.

The bill seeks to address that by dramatically speeding up the process, making it tougher for people to enter the asylum system and denying them the ability to apply for asylum if illegal border crossings grow to become unmanageable for authorities. Most migrants who seek asylum would receive an initial interview, known as a credible-fear screening, within days of arriving at the border. They would then either be expelled from the country or given a work permit during a months-long wait to have their case heard by an immigration judge.

Immigration advocates are concerned the proposal would deprive asylum seekers of the ability to make full cases, especially when they have just made arduous journeys to get to the U.S.

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.