California Sen. Alex Padilla said the bipartisan $118 billion foreign and border aid bill supported by President Biden “misses the mark.”
“It is critical that we support our allies in their fight to defend democracy and provide humanitarian aid, but not at the expense of dismantling our asylum system and ultimately failing to alleviate challenges at our border,” said Padilla, a Democrat, in a statement Sunday.
The bill, which amounts to a list of GOP immigration priorities, has been negotiated by Democrats and Republicans for several months and is one of the most conservative packages to receive support from a Democratic president in decades. Biden said Sunday that he would sign it if Congress approves it.
Immigration and border control have taken center stage in politics as asylum seekers arrive in the United States in record numbers. Even state allies in Biden's Democratic Party have pleaded with him to act.
By agreeing to support such a conservative-leaning bill, Biden may hope to be able to partially neutralize the border as a political issue. Former President Trump has been using the crisis against Biden in their expected 2024 rematch.
The legislation does not address citizenship for the millions of people who are in the country illegally, including farm workers and people brought to the country as children, often called “Dreamers.”
It raises the threshold for asylum seekers, limits presidential authority to grant parole to people who have entered from countries facing war or persecution, and implements a new expedited removal process.
It also orders the closure of the border when arrests reach 5,000 a day. When that happens, anyone caught trying to enter the country would be immediately expelled without an asylum assessment. Asylum applications could still be submitted at ports of entry.
Padilla personally warned Biden in mid-December not to give in to the Republican Party on immigration in order to deliver one-time aid to Ukraine, Israel and other US allies.
“The deal includes a new version of a failed Trump-era immigration policy that will cause more chaos at the border, not less. It is in conflict with our international treaties and obligations to provide people with the opportunity to seek asylum. It does not address the root causes of migration. And it provides no relief to Dreamers, farmworkers, and other long-term undocumented residents of our country who contribute billions to our economy, work in essential jobs, and strengthen America,” he said in the statement.
Padilla joins other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who say they were not given a chance to weigh in on the deal.
“They are trying to enact sweeping legislation without the participation of the most important stakeholders: immigrant communities and those who represent them. Can you imagine reaching a deal on voting rights without the end-to-end input of the Congressional Black Caucus? Not imaginable!” said Senator Bob Menéndez (D-N.J.) in a statement.
California Sen. Laphonza Butler, also a Democrat, has not commented publicly on the proposed legislation.
The Senate is expected to hold an initial vote on the bill Wednesday to get a sense of whether the legislation has a chance of meeting the 60-vote threshold for passage. Although it has the backing of Senate Republican leaders, several GOP senators are already saying it is not enough to gain their support.
House Republican leaders also back Trump's opposition to the bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Monday that the bill will be “dead on arrival” if it reaches the House.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump urged Republicans not to support the bill.
“This bill is a huge gift to Democrats and a death wish for the Republican Party,” he said in the post.
