President Joe Biden expressed hope on Friday that a deal regarding the U.S.-Mexico border could be reached next week, particularly in the Democratic-controlled Senate. He emphasized the need for “significant policy changes” in order to address the ongoing issues at the border.
Republicans in Congress have hindered emergency funding for Ukraine as part of their push for new security policies along the U.S.-Mexico border. They attribute the influx of immigrants into the United States to Biden’s policies.
“I think next week we’re going to be able to work out something, at least in the Senate, and I’m hopeful that it’s going to be a bipartisan package,” Biden stated to a group of mayors gathered at the White House.
“Now the question is for the speaker and House Republicans, are they ready to act as well?”
In the House, where Republicans hold a narrow majority, certain hardline members have threatened to remove Speaker Mike Johnson if he brings a border security deal to the floor as part of a package that also includes aid to Kyiv.
Biden admitted on Friday that immigration policy changes were necessary.
“I believe we need significant policy changes at the border, including changes in our asylum system,” he noted.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Katharine Jackson; writing by Costas Pitas; Editing by Caitlin Webber)
