House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) took a stand on Monday against an migration shutdown authority delegated to the president that may be included in the Senate agreement seeking to couple aid for U.S. allies, such as Ukraine and Israel, with border security reforms.
The Louisiana Republican, who has already warned the deal would be “dead on arrival” in the House if rumors about the draft proposal were true, took to X to convey his opposition to a purported section on crossings that has drawn a great deal of contention.
“Any border ‘shutdown’ authority that ALLOWS even one illegal crossing is a non-starter. Thousands each day is outrageous. The number must be ZERO,” Johnson said in a post to X.
Any border "shutdown" authority that ALLOWS even one illegal crossing is a non-starter. Thousands each day is outrageous. The number must be ZERO.
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) January 29, 2024
Fox News recently published a report with sources saying the Senate deal would establish a threshold of a seven-day rolling average exceeding 5,000 encounters a day to trigger a Title 42-like authority to quickly remove migrants at the border.
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), who has been working on the compromise deal with Democrats, insisted over the weekend that the section in question is being misinterpreted.
“Right now, there’s internet rumors. It’s all that people are running. It would be absolutely absurd for me to agree to 5,000 people a day,” he said on “Fox News Sunday,” contending that the provision is designed to shut down the border if there is a “rush of people” approaching.
“This bill focuses on getting us to zero illegal crossings a day. There’s no amnesty. It increases the number of Border Patrol agents and it increases asylum officers. It increases detention beds so we can quickly detain and then deport individuals,” he added. “It ends catch-and-release. It focuses on additional deportation flights out. It changes our asylum process so that people can get a fast asylum screening at a higher standard and then get returned back to their home country.”
The Senate talks aim to implement immigration reforms and answer President Joe Biden’s request for roughly $106 billion in supplemental funds to spend on U.S. allies — including Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan — as well as border security and humanitarian assistance.
Former President Donald Trump has discouraged passage of the deal “unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions & Millions of people, many from parts unknown, into our once great, but soon to be great again, Country!”
He also said in a post to Truth Social, “I have no doubt that our wonderful Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, will only make a deal that is PERFECT ON THE BORDER. Remember, without Strong Borders and Honest Elections, we don’t have a Country!!!”
Biden, who is running for re-election this year and could face off against Trump in a 2020 general election rematch, has encouraged the bipartisan Senate negotiations on border security.
“Let’s be clear,” Biden said in a statement on Friday. “What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country.”
He added, “It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”