Biden and House Republicans are locked in a standoff over the border
The White House can't take action at the border without additional funds and House Republicans won't unlock funding without sweeping changes to immigration policy.
The Biden administration and Congress are caught in a no-win situation over policy changes and funding at the southern border: the White House unable to enact new policies without additional funds, and House Republicans unwilling to unlock funding without sweeping changes to U.S. immigration policy.
Asylum-seeking migrants wrap themselves in blankets to ward off the wind and rain as they line up in a makeshift, mountainous campsite to be processed after crossing the border with Mexico, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, near Jacumba Hot Springs, Calif. Gregory Bull / AP fileWhile the Department of Homeland Security has drafted some possible actions that could be taken unilaterally, including plans to place more migrants on a fast track for deportation, those policies have been shelved, at least for now, because DHS lacks the manpower to carry them out, according to three Biden administration officials.
The Biden administration had originally asked Congress for just over $13 billion to boost resources at the border, but after Republicans blocked a bipartisan Senate bill that would have significantly affected immigration and border policy, the national security package cleared by the upper chamber on Tuesday omitted any funding for the border.
President Joe Biden has been in near-daily meetings with top aides about border security for weeks, stressing that the system is “broken” and pushing officials to come up with solutions that don’t require Congress.
“Congress controls the purse strings,” a source involved in the congressional negotiation process told NBC News. “There is no magic pot of money for the administration.”
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