Progressives warn Biden against trading border reforms for Ukraine aid

Hispanic and progressive leaders in Congress urged President Joe Biden on Wednesday to reject GOP demands for stricter border enforcement as the White House negotiates a deal for further aid to Ukraine.

Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-CA), the chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, called on Senate Democrats to “hold the line” as Republicans demand border policy changes to unlock tens of billions in fresh aid to the war-torn country. But the message, from her and other Democrats in her caucus, was even more forcefully directed at Biden, who is entertaining a compromise after weeks of stalled talks.

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Speaking at a press conference outside the Capitol, Democrats warned that if Biden accepts curbs on asylum and other tools to stem the flow of illegal migration, he would be surrendering to “right-wing racism.”

“And more than that, he would be enabling it,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX).

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, implored Biden his very presidency will be defined by the path he takes on Ukraine.

“Please don’t go down this road, don’t cave to the extreme Republican immigration proposals,” he said, “because if you do so, you cement your legacy as the asylum denier in chief. That’s not something we want to see.”

The White House stresses that it has not agreed to any of Republicans’ demands, but the very fact that Biden is open to border concessions on what Democrats say is an unrelated foreign policy matter is alarming to progressives.

Barragan, in partnership with her California colleague Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), has spent weeks warning Democrats not to accept the binary Republicans have created: border reforms or no Ukraine aid. At a minimum, a compromise should include a path to citizenship, they say, for longtime residents in the country illegally.

That message became more urgent this week after the White House got involved in border talks. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas met with the bipartisan working group in the Senate on Tuesday afternoon.

Democrats at Wednesday’s press conference, which included Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, repeatedly emphasized the lack of Hispanic representation in the working group and lamented that a request to sit down with White House chief of staff Jeffrey Zients had so far gone unmet.

(David Sivak/Washington Examiner)

The lawmakers argued a grand bargain on immigration is possible but that the deal Biden is considering is not it. Accepting the sort of compromises Republicans are insisting upon, they said, would mean returning to the very policies under former President Donald Trump he campaigned against.

“I certainly hope and pray that there are those at the White House that are listening,” said Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM).

“Let’s sit down and talk; let’s find real solutions that are meaningful for all of the challenges that are before us in the United States of America while living up to our national security responsibilities,” he added.

Biden may not have the luxury of appeasing his base. Time is running short for the United States to send Ukraine further aid, and the White House likely views a compromise to address the border as politically advantageous given the liability record border crossings present for him ahead of an election year.

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Biden proposed $14 billion for the border as part of a larger defense supplemental that would provide funding for Ukraine, but Senate Republicans see actual policy changes as necessary to getting the money through a conservative House.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.