Republicans Hold the U.S.-Mexico Border as a Bargaining Chip for Ukraine Aid

Republicans in Congress have tied the fate of aid to Ukraine to their demands for stricter border policies to restrict migration at the U.S. border with Mexico, vastly complicating its chances of getting approved.

What began earlier this year as a push by right-wing lawmakers deeply opposed to funding the war in Ukraine to tie the money to their top domestic priority has been embraced by nearly all Republicans on Capitol Hill. That prompted President Biden, who recognizes that the state of the border is a potential political liability for him, to include border security funding in a large national security spending request he sent Congress for Ukraine and Israel. His advisers and Democrats in the Senate, in turn, signaled they were open to adding some policy changes sought by Republicans.

But even after weeks of intensive negotiations, lawmakers remain at an impasse, perhaps not surprisingly, over an issue that has not been able to achieve bipartisan agreement for decades. Republicans and Democrats are split on pivotal issues including when to detain or deport migrants seeking entry into the United States.

Democrats have agreed to accommodate some of the Republican demands, such as raising the standard under which asylum-seekers can claim a credible fear of persecution if they are returned to their home countries. But they have resisted proposals to reimpose Trump-era measures mandating family detention and reinstituting a requirement that migrants who cannot be detained wait outside the United States for their day in immigration court, as well as an effort to expand expedited removal proceedings, under which migrants are deported before they can make asylum claims, nationwide.

On Monday, Democrats criticized the Republican demands as “unrealistic,” while G.O.P. lawmakers predicted they were weeks away from being able to resolve the disagreements.

Without a deal, it is unlikely that a Ukraine aid package will pass the Senate, much less the House. Last week, Republican senators blocked a spending bill that would have included about $50 billion for Ukraine, over complaints that it did not include policy changes to clamp down on cross-border migration.

Progressive Democrats argue that the border should not be linked to Ukraine aid, arguing that Republicans who say they support arming Kyiv should be forced to vote on that matter alone.

“We are deeply concerned that the president would consider advancing Trump-era immigration policies that Democrats fought so hard against — and that he himself campaigned against — in exchange for aid to our allies that Republicans already support,” Representative Nanette Barragan, the chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Senator Alex Padilla, both California Democrats, wrote in a joint statement Monday.