USA It's a crucial week for him to decide whether or not to approve urgently needed aid Ukraine, a country that has been at war with Russia since 2022. The big obstacle to this end lies in the Senate, where the Republican Party refuses to green light the new package for Kiev and for Israel if the administration of President Joe Biden does not tighten immigration policies. The president has already announced that he will give in.
On Wednesday last week, senate has again blocked a package worth 106 billion dollars Ukraine And Israelalthough hours before Biden had said that it was so ready to make “significant concessions at the border”. to provide aid to their allies in war.
LOOK: How the political battle in the United States would give Putin victory over Ukraine by the end of the year
Congress has been blocking $61.4 billion in new aid for months Ukraine proposed by the White House.
US aid to Ukraine. (AFP).
“It’s time to reach an agreement that both parties can accept”Shalanda Young, White House budget director, said Sunday on CBS' “Face the Nation.”
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphythe main negotiator of the Democratic Partyannounced that the White House would take a more active role in the talks.
According to a report by the AP agency, the republican They claim that the Record numbers of immigrants crossing the southern border They pose a threat to the country's security because authorities cannot adequately investigate the background of all illegal immigrants. They also claim that those who enter USA They are depleting the country's resources. The legislators republican They add that they cannot justify to their voters sending billions of dollars to other countries, even in wartime, without first addressing the issue Border.
More than 3.2 million arrests
of migrants were at the Mexico-United States border during fiscal year 2023, which began on October 1, 2022 and ended on September 30, 2023.
At the side of Republican PartyThe negotiations are led by the senator James Lankfordfrom Oklahoma who noticed this The surge in people entering the U.S. from Mexico is “spinning out of control.”
“All we want to do is say what tools are needed to regain control so that we don't have chaos at our southern border,” Lankford said on CBS.
CNN stressed that this week is key to reaching an agreement because lawmakers will take a seven-day vacation break starting next week.
This Tuesday the President Biden will receive his counterpart from Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskywho also hopes to meet with congressional representatives to lift the block on aid.
U.S. President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky walk to the Oval Office of the White House on September 21, 2023. (Photo by JIM WATSON / POOL / AFP).
What the Republicans are demanding
But what changes are the Republicans demanding? The AP agency said much of the negotiations were being conducted privately, but insisted that the topics discussed were known: higher standards for asylum seekers, so-called humanitarian probation and the facilitation of accelerated deportationsamong others.
For many immigration advocates, including some Democrats, some of the changes proposed by Republicans are would remove protections for people who urgently need help and wouldn't really ease the chaos at the border, AP said.
The democratic negotiator Chris Murphy criticized Republicans' political demands, saying they were unreasonable.
“We do not want to close the United States to people who come here to be rescued from dangerous and miserable circumstances in which their lives are in danger.. The best thing about America is that you can come here to be saved from terror and torture,” Murphy said on NBC's “Meet the Press.”
Border Patrol agents process migrants who entered the United States illegally through California on December 6, 2023. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP).
The humanitarian probation
He Parole for humanitarian reasons is a temporary immigration status granted by the government of USA to persons who need to enter the country for urgent humanitarian reasons or for reasons of significant public benefit. Typically, it is used in emergencies with a critical humanitarian purpose, such as medical treatment, family reunification or the need for essential assistance in disaster relief operations, as well as other situations where a refusal of entry could cause significant hardship to the applicant.
Under this regime, immigrants are generally admitted for a predetermined period of time There is no path to American citizenship.
The AP agency explained in detail how the Parole for humanitarian reasons It has been used by both Democratic and Republican administrations over the years.
They did it to allow people entry Hungary in the 1950sfrom Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in the second half of the 1970salready Kurdish-Iraqi who had cooperated with the United States Mid 1990saccording to a study by the Cato Institute.
The government of Biden used it to bring 80,000 Afghans from Kabul to the US after the Taliban came to power in 2021. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians who fled after the Russian invasion also entered the country.
In January of this year the administration Biden announced a plan to accommodate 30,000 people per month Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela by the Parole for humanitarian reasonsas long as those migrants had a financial sponsor and flew into the United States rather than crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to enter the country, the AP reported.
According to the latest official figures As of October, nearly 270,000 people have been admitted to the United States under this program.
Venezuelan Alejandro Urdaneta, an asylum-seeking migrant, crosses the United States-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on September 23, 2023. (Photo by Paula RAMÓN / AFP).
The asylum
As for them asylumthis tool enables the migrant remain in the United States and find a path to citizenship provided you can demonstrate a credible fear of persecution in your home country based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political views.
The AP explained that asylum seekers must be on U.S. soil to be eligible for this protection. He added that they typically go through an initial assessment called a credible fear interview. To obtain asylum, They must remain in the United States and win their case in immigration court. This process can take years. In the meantime, Asylum seekers can work, marry, have children and live a life in the countryside.
Asylum critics point out that most applicants lose their cases in the asylum courts. immigration. They add that immigrants know this when they apply asylumThey are generally allowed to stay in the USA for years.
What is currently being discussed in the United States Congress is Increasing the standards that asylum-seeking migrants must meet during the first credible fear interview. Anyone who does not comply will automatically be sent home.
Guatemalan migrants deported from the U.S. walk on the airport tarmac upon their arrival at the air base in Guatemala City, Jan. 27, 2023. (Photo by Johan ORDÓNEZ/AFP).
Accelerated deportation
On the subject accelerated deportationThis was implemented by Congress in 1996. It allows lower-level immigration officials to quickly deport certain immigrants without taking the case to a judge, the AP explained.
Generally, this tool is used on people detained approximately 100 miles (161 kilometers) from the border Mexico either Canadawithin two weeks of arrival.
This is what those who support accelerated deportations say relieves the burden on the immigration courts, but its critics claim it is useful Prone to error and does not provide adequate protection for immigrantsfor example, having a lawyer to help them defend their case.
The AP recalls this as the Republican Donald Trump During his term as president, he pushed to expand expedited deportations nationwide and for longer periods of time, but the change was never approved.
The war situation in Ukraine on December 10, 2023. (AFP).