Joe Biden looked like he would cut a deal with the House GOP to make “meaningful changes” to border security protocols. He doesn’t want to, but the GOP won’t send pallets of cash and guns to his buddy in Ukraine if he doesn’t.
As soon as it looked like there would be a resolution, two prominent Latinos in Congress led an open opposition.
Prominent Latinos in Congress looked on quietly, at first, privately raising concerns with the Biden administration over the direction of border security talks.
Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California was on the phone constantly with administration officials questioning why the Senate negotiations did not include any meaningful consideration of providing pathways to citizenship for longtime immigrants lacking the proper legal documents.
New Mexico Democrat Sen. Ben Ray Luján made similar arguments as he tried to get meetings with top-level White House officials…
Padilla warned that Biden’s concessions on border restrictions could have lasting impact on his support from Latino voters.
“To think that concessions are going to be made without benefiting a single Dreamer, a single farm worker, a single undocumented essential worker is unconscionable,” he said.
They won’t settle for any deal that doesn’t include increased immigration and citizenship.
They want citizenship for the DACA and farmworkers and think this will get the there, but this isn’t about DACA anymore. We have millions of anonymous people pouring across our borders. Even the blue state governors are screaming about the influx. They’re destroying all areas of the country. We’re getting a lot of criminals and terrorists. This is insanity.
This Was From the Politico Playbook This Morning
— Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (I-Ariz.) said they’re making headway now that the White House is more involved. “We made really good progress today. We’re moving forward on big issues.”
— Sen. JAMES LANKFORD (R-Okla.) said, “We’ve got a long way to go,” but added that the White House was actually putting proposals on paper, a good sign following GOP complaints that they hadn’t been.
— Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.) says his goal is to get the deal done before leaving for the holidays: “I’m not going back home … All I know is we’re trying to get a vote on this before we leave. That’s my only goal.”
Negotiators were back at it this morning and wanted to wrap it up by Christmas.
Meanwhile, pressure builds on the administration to do something about the border. Yesterday, Arizona Gov. KATIE HOBBS (D) signed an executive order deploying the state’s National Guard to help deal with the surge in migrant crossings, the Arizona Republic reports. “I am taking action where the federal government won’t,” she said in a statement.
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