WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Congress continues work on a bipartisan border security deal, but now there are concerns Republicans will attempt to derail it, despite months of calling for stricter border policies.
A lot of that concern is coming after former President Donald Trump said Republicans should reject any deal Democrats helped create.
Senate negotiators could release specifics of their border security deal as early as this week.
“We do have a bipartisan deal. We’re finishing the text right now,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)
According to published reports, the deal overhauls the requirements for migrants seeking asylum.
It also requires a border shutdown if the number of illegal crossings hits more than 5,000 a day.
“We’re focused on how many people we can process quickly and then deport out of the country not release into the country,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.)
For years, Republicans have pushed for stricter border control as the number of illegal crossings reached into the millions, but some Republicans are now criticizing their own congressional colleagues for threatening to tank the bill.
“They’re like, ‘Oh, just kidding. I actually don’t want to change the law because of the presidential election year,'” said Lankford.
President Joe Biden says he supports the effort.
“If that bill was the law today, I’d shut down the border right now,” he said.
Some say he already has the authority to do that.
“Biden could do that today, why doesn’t he do that today? I mean he doesn’t need any of this to secure the border, Trump secured the border with the exact same laws,” said Sen. Rick Scott, (R-Fla.)
If passed this agreement would also authorize more money for Ukraine and Israel since Republicans conditioned that money on securing the border.
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