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Republican lawmakers want to tie a proposal for billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine to a series of border reforms, setting up a clash with Democrats over the funding.
GOP Sens. James Lankford, Tom Cotton, and Lindsey Graham released a one-page plan that includes "significant policy reforms that are most critical to securing the border and stemming the flow of migrants immediately."
"Securing our southern border should be a key component of our national security. The Republican Working Group proposal includes measures that increase pay for hardworking border patrol agents, strengthens border security, and removes pull factors by fixing our broken asylum process and stopping the Biden Administration's abuse of the immigration parole system," the proposal explains.
Democrats balked at the idea of tying the Ukraine aid to immigration and border control policies.
"I just want to make sure we get aid to Ukraine. I want to make sure that we do something to treat people humanely on the border. I don't know whether those two things have any possibility of riding together," Sen. Chris Murphy said. "I don't think that proposal Republicans put on the table today makes this easier. I think it makes it harder."
However, Republicans said that the United States must secure the southern border before sending money to support the Ukrainian war effort.
"We're not going to get a package through that doesn't get control of the border," Graham said. "America's a destination of choice, not a safety."
Lankford also defended tying the military aid to Ukraine to immigration reforms.
"We're not going to try to secure other countries and not secure ours," Lankford said. "For three years, we've been saying: 'When are we going to secure the country? When are we going to do this?' And every year, it's gotten worse," Lankford said. "And the volume has reached loud enough that we're saying, 'Time out; we've got to be able to secure our own country while we're working for the security of others.'"