The pact between a group of Democratic and Republican senators with the White House to restrict migration on the southern border in exchange for military aid to Ukraine was rejected this Wednesday in the US Senate
The bill, which took months to negotiate and proposed changes to US asylum laws, did not obtain the 60 votes needed to move to debate, with 50 votes against and 49 in favor.
The criticism of the former president donald trump (2017-2021), favorite for the Republican presidential nomination, the agreement mobilized the majority of Republicans to vote against it, despite the fact that the text includes immigration restrictions that conservatives have requested for years.
Only four Republicans voted in favor of the project, including James Lankfordthe representative of this party in the negotiations.
Even Mitch McConnellthe leader of the Republicans in the Senate, turned his back on the proposal.
On the part of the Democrats, five senators broke with their party’s position and positioned themselves against it, citing in public statements their rejection of immigration restrictions.
The failure of this agreement leaves the Administration of Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress struggling once again to find alternatives to give the green light to sending new funds for Ukraine and Israelhis foreign policy priorities.
The leader of the Democratic majority of the Senate, Chuck Schumerindicated before the vote that he will seek to present a modified project today, which only includes aid for Ukraine and Israel, worth $95 billion.
However, it is not clear how enough support will be gained for this proposal to also advance in the House of Representativeswhere the Republican majority has been skeptical of continuing to finance the Ukrainian defense of the Russian invasion.
The result of the vote also demonstrates the rejection that any agreement with the Democrats to address the immigration issue generates among Republican congressmen on the eve of the November general elections.
The proposal was harshly criticized by human rights organizations since it represented the most restrictive changes to the US immigration law in decades.
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Specifically, the text would give the executive power to block asylum requests at the border when 4,000 arrests are recorded daily for seven consecutive days of people crossing irregularly.
In turn, it would force the federal government to prevent people who cross irregularly from requesting protection when more than 8,500 arrests are recorded in one day.
The agreement also proposed permanently modifying the immigration law of the US to raise the necessary requirements to be able to request asylum.
