As senators approached a bipartisan agreement that, according to Republican negotiators, would constitute the most conservative border security bill in decades, Donald Trump was winning significant margins in the early Republican primaries, bringing the party’s nomination ever closer.
More powerful than ever, the former president opposed the agreement that would also send tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine and, even “from outside” Washington D.C., questioned the package of measures and left Republicans divided on an issue that once united the party.
Hardline on Immigration
Trump burst onto the national political scene in 2015 with a grim warning about the invasion of dangerous immigrants at the southern border of the country. More than eight years later, he continues to hit the same note: “We need a strong, powerful, and essentially ‘PERFECT’ border, and unless we get that, it’s better not to make a deal,” he wrote on social media about the Congressional package.
Senators have been working on a border deal since before Thanksgiving. But as negotiations dragged on, Trump began gathering delegates and pressuring the party to unite around him and his agenda. His allies in Congress consider him the de facto leader of the party. Even Republicans who are not fervent fans of Trump have said in recent days that they will do whatever they can to support him as the party’s candidate.
Trump’s immigration policies include harsh measures that President Biden and Senate Democrats would never support. Trump and most House Republicans want to prevent immigrants from living and working temporarily without visas in the United States while awaiting the outcome of their immigration processes.
The future of the senators’ proposal is uncertain for now.
Source: The New York Times