White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called on senators to support a stand-alone border security bill that is expected to come up in the Senate this week.
“This bipartisan border legislation would deliver the significant policy changes, resources, and personnel needed to secure our border and make our country safer,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said Monday in a statement.
She said the legislation would allow for thousands of additional Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection personnel, invest in new technology that would catch fentanyl and combat drug traffickers, and add asylum officers and immigration judges to expedite asylum cases.
It also would create a temporary emergency authority to shut down the border and increase ways for migrants to come to the United States legally, while speeding up the work authorization process for those eligible.
“We strongly support this legislation and call on every senator to put partisan politics aside and vote to secure the border,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, wrote a letter to senators Sunday, saying he is “hopeful” the bipartisan bill will win the support of “serious-minded Republicans.”
He also said he doesn’t expect every Democrat to support the proposal, which was negotiated by Sens. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona independent, and James Lankford, Oklahoma Republican.
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and other House Republicans said the bill was “dead on arrival” Monday.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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