Hispanic and Latino House Democrats are calling for a meeting with the White House over their concerns about ongoing talks to pair border and asylum measures with President Biden’s request for supplemental foreign aid, an aide told Fox News.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) wants to meet with Biden after a request for a sit-down with White House chief of staff Jeff Zients never materialized into an actual meeting, a Democratic aide told Fox News.
CHC members are worried the president would “cave” to GOP demands on border talks, the aide said.
They cited Biden’s comments during an impassioned speech at the White House last week, “I am willing to make significant compromises on the border. We need to fix the broken border system, it is broken.”
The aide said CHC Democrats are worried Biden gave away significant leverage during his address, particularly when it comes to including measures regarding DREAMers and work permits that are sought by the left.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.
CHC Chair Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., released a statement with Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., on Monday morning rejecting the inclusion of “Trump-era immigration policies” from the ongoing supplemental talks.
“We are deeply concerned that the President would consider advancing Trump-era immigration policies that Democrats fought so hard against – and that he himself campaigned against – in exchange for aid to our allies that Republicans already support,” they said. “Caving to demands for these permanent damaging policy changes as a ‘price to be paid’ for an unrelated one-time spending package would send a dangerous precedent.”
Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., CHC’s vice chair for policy, wrote on X on Sunday that the group “supports border funding, but not immigration policy, being included in the Supplemental.”
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“If [President Biden and Senate Democrats] are going to go there, DREAMers should be included too. These young people have waited long enough,” Soto said.
NBC News first reported that CHC lawmakers and their allies were seeking to broaden communication with Biden on the issue.
It comes after House and Senate Republicans closed ranks last week around addressing the border crisis as part of any foreign aid deal.
Senate Republicans tanked a procedural vote on a $110 billion supplemental aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, the U.S. border and humanitarian causes brought forward last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
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Democrats have expressed concerns that Republicans are pushing for measures that are too severe and would do little to stop the ongoing border crisis.
But hardliners within the GOP, who have likened the thousands of people coming across the border with Mexico to an “invasion,” are calling for nothing short of House Republicans’ border bill known as H.R.2, which would build a border wall and significantly tighten asylum laws, among other provisions.
Both Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have signaled that significant border security measures would be needed to entertain all or part of Biden’s supplemental request.
