Senate negotiations on border and Ukraine aid to resume

(NEW YORK) — Bipartisan negotiations resume Wednesday between senators on a potential border security package, a source familiar confirms.

ABC News is told the conversations will be held remotely as the Senate is out on recess for the holiday and is not expected to return until Jan. 8.

Before leaving town last week, principal Senate negotiators signaled they were making “progress” on a potential deal and that they would continue discussing it during the recess.

Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy, GOP Sen. James Lankford and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema — the trio leading the talks — had been huddling for weeks to try to find a way forward on changes to immigration and border security.

Details on what could be in a potential border security package are still slim, but the main areas of discussion include: toughening asylum protocols for migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, bolstering border enforcement with more personnel and high-tech systems and deterring migrants from making the journey to the US in the first place.

The senators say they are trying to ensure that migrants who have a credible claim to asylum can safely apply, but that officials can also quickly turn away those who don’t qualify. The goal, senators have said, is to create a more orderly, efficient asylum system that reduces chaos at the border.

Republicans have insisted that a bipartisan compromise on immigration and border security policy is necessary to advance additional funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas traveled to Mexico City on Wednesday to discuss historic levels of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. They plan to meet with Mexican President Andrés Manual López Obrador before returning to Washington later on Wednesday. Their meeting will be focused on “unprecedented irregular migration in the Western Hemisphere and identify ways” each country can address border security challenges, including reopening key ports of entry, the Department of State said in a statement last week.President Joe Biden has previously said he is willing to make “significant compromises” on immigration policy to secure an aid deal for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

The urgent meeting comes as a caravan of an estimated 6,000 migrants makes its way to the U.S. border.

 

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