Adam Isacson

Developments

In talks that resumed on December 7, Senate negotiators appear to have made little progress toward a deal that could win Republican support for the Biden administration’s request for $110.5 million for Ukraine, Israel, and other priorities. As the price for their votes, Republicans are demanding changes to U.S. law that would reduce access to asylum, humanitarian parole, and similar migrant protections.

• Rebecca Santana, “Major Changes to Us Immigration Policy Are Under Discussion. What Are They and What Could They Mean?” (Associated Press, Associated Press, December 10, 2023).
• Ted Hesson, “White House to Intensify Push for Ukraine Aid and Border Security Deal” (Reuters, Reuters, December 10, 2023).
• Burgess Everett, Jennifer Haberkorn, Jonathan Lemire, “Biden the Closer? Senate Gop Urges President to Clinch Ukraine-Border Deal” (Politico, December 8, 2023).
• Stuart Anderson, “Analysis of Immigration Issues in Border Talks Shows High Stakes” (Forbes, December 10, 2023).

“First thing’s first is asylum,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), the chief Republican negotiator on a possible deal, told Face the Nation. “Right now, people come in and say, I want to request asylum. There’s so many people, and the cartels know it, and the smugglers know, that they can throw thousands of people a day. There’s no way to process that.”

• “Full Transcript Of “Face the Nation,” Dec. 10, 2023” (CBS News, December 10, 2023).

“Three sources with knowledge of the talks” told NBC News that, with White House involvement, negotiators are near agreement on raising the standard of “credible fear” that asylum seekers must meet in initial screening interviews at the border. This proposal outrages migrant rights defenders because of the risk that many asylum seekers may be sent back to danger. On Meet the Press, the Democrats’ chief negotiator, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), said, “We are willing to talk about tightening some of the rules, so that you don’t have 10,000 people arriving a day. Our resources are not equipped to be able to handle that number of people. So, let’s reduce the number of people who are coming here, but let’s not shut down the border completely to legitimate claims.”

• “Meet the Press – December 10, 2023” (NBC News, December 10, 2023).
• “#WelcomeWithDignity Rejects Efforts to End Asylum” (#WelcomeWithDignity Campaign, December 8, 2023).

“Three sources with knowledge of the talks” tell NBC News that Republicans are also calling to restrict use of the presidential “humanitarian parole” authority, which dates back to the 1950s, except for Cuban migrants. Other possible Republican demands, CNN reported, may include more electronic monitoring of asylum seekers, including children, released into the United States, and sending more asylum seekers to “safe third countries.”

• Julia Ainsley, Julie Tsirkin, Monica Alba, Sahil Kapur, “Congressional Hispanic Caucus Frustrated With the White House on Immigration Negotiations” (NBC News, December 10, 2023).
• Lauren Fox, Priscilla Alvarez, “Daylight Remains Between Democrats and Republicans Over Border Policy Changes, Sources Say” (CNN, December 8, 2023).

CBP’s port of entry in remote Lukeville, Arizona remains closed, as the border crossing’s personnel have been pulled away to help process daily arrivals of asylum seekers and other migrants in Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, where agents apprehended 18,900 people during the week ending December 7 (2,700 per day). “Because Lukeville is so remote, Border Patrol staffing is light, so traffickers in the region controlled by Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel steer people there,” the Associated Press noted.

• “John R. Modlin @Usbpchieftca on Twitter” (Twitter, December 8, 2023).
• Anita Snow, “Smugglers Are Bringing Migrants to a Remote Arizona Border Crossing, Overwhelming Us Agents” (Associated Press, Associated Press, December 10, 2023).
• Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “Migrants From Around the World Converge on Remote Arizona Desert, Fueling Humanitarian Crisis at the Border” (CBS News, December 8, 2023).
• Jack Healy, Miriam Jordan, “To Handle a Surge of Illegal Crossings, Border Officials Stop Legal Ones” (The New York Times, December 10, 2023).

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) visited the Lukeville area and called for the border crossing’s reopening and pledging to deploy the state’s National Guard if the situation continues. Hobbs sent President Joe Biden a letter calling for “$512,529,333 in reimbursements for ongoing border operations resulting from the federal government’s failure to secure the Arizona border.”

• “Governor Katie Hobbs Launches Operation Secure, Offers National Guard Mobilization to Open Lukeville Port of Entry” (Office of the Governor of Arizona, December 8, 2023).
• Marissa Sarbak, “Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs Visits U.S.-Mexico Border at Closed Lukeville Port of Entry” (FOX 10 Phoenix, December 9, 2023).
• Paul Ingram, “Frustration for Ajo With Lukeville Border Crossing Closed; Hobbs Looks to Nat’l Guard” (The Tucson Sentinel (Tucson Arizona), December 8, 2023).

The five-day average of migrant arrivals (3,407) is even higher in Border Patrol’s Del Rio, Texas sector where—despite a massive array of border security measures laid out by the state government’s “Operation Lone Star”—Border Patrol apprehended 17,034 people in five days.

• “Acting Chief Patrol Agent Juan G. Bernal @USBPChiefDRT on Twitter” (Twitter, December 7, 2023).
• Camelia Munoz, “Ola Migrante Inunda Piedras Negras; Por Esta Razon Temen Crisis Comercial en la Frontera” (Proceso (Mexico), December 8, 2023).

Near Jacumba Hot Springs, California, just over an hour’s drive east of San Diego, “a total daily average of 800 people are in three camps,” Agence France-Presse reported.

• “‘A New Normal’: Migrants Huddle in Open-Air Camps on Us Border” (Agence France Presse, France24 (France), December 8, 2023).

A CBS News poll finds 20 percent of U.S. respondents naming “immigration and the Border” to be the “most important problem facing the United States.” Only “inflation” (27 percent) scored higher.

• Anthony Salvanto, Fred Backus, Jennifer de Pinto, “Most Americans Disapprove of Biden’s Handling of Israel-Hamas War — Cbs News Poll” (CBS News, December 10, 2023).

Although Mexico’s migration agency (INM) is reportedly out of money for deportations and travel for what remains of 2023, the agency returned 47 unaccompanied Guatemalan minors back to Guatemala over the December 9-10 weekend. Still, news of Mexico’s suspension of deportations may be encouraging migrants, like some interviewed by the daily Milenio, to speed their progress across the country.

• “Inm Realizo el Retorno Asistido de 47 Nna No Acompanados de Nacionalidad Guatemalteca” (Instituto Nacional de Migración (Mexico), December 10, 2023).
• Fluvio Cesar Martinez, “Migrantes Aceleraran su Ruta para Llegar a-Eu Suspension Deportaciones” (Milenio (Mexico), December 10, 2023).

San Diego U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw approved a court settlement, in litigation brought by the ACLU, that would prohibit any revival of a “family separation” policy at the U.S.-Mexico border for the next eight years.

• Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “Judge Approves Settlement Barring U.S. Border Officials From Reviving Family Separation Policy for 8 Years” (CBS News, December 9, 2023).
• Elliot Spagat, “Federal Judge Poised to Prohibit Separating Migrant Families at Us Border for 8 Years” (Associated Press, Associated Press, December 8, 2023).

Analyses and Feature Stories

CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility released an annual report, covering 2022, about internal investigations and employee accountability. The report found no increase in disciplinary actions taken against agency personnel compared to 2021. The National Use of Force Review Board looked at five serious use-of-force incidents and recommended no discipline.

• “Report on Internal Investigations and Employee Accountability fy2022” (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, December 8, 2023).

The Ciudad Juárez-based La Verdad reported from several parts of Mexico about the severe toll that migrating across Mexico takes on women.

• Alicia Fernandez, “El Invisible Martirio de las Mujeres Migrantes” (La Verdad (Ciudad Juarez Mexico), December 10, 2023).

A Washington Post editorial called for more processing of migrants and more assistance to countries along the U.S.-bound migration route that could be giving in-transit migrants greater opportunity to settle there.

• “Editorial: An Immigration Solution South of the Border” (The Washington Post, December 8, 2023).

On the Right

• “Southwest Border Sector Chiefs Describe Their New Policies of Mass Release Under Secretary Mayorkas’ Catch-and-Release Policies” (House Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. House of Representatives, December 8, 2023).
• Ross Douthat, “Why Biden Should Make an Immigration Deal With Republicans” (The New York Times, December 9, 2023).

Developments

The Senate has adjourned for the weekend, but negotiations appear to be re-starting between a small group of senators as Republicans demand restrictions to asylum, and other tough border and migration measures, in exchange for passage of a bill to fund Ukraine and Israel aid, border priorities, and other items. This group is expected to meet through the weekend, and the White House now appears to be more directly or openly involved.

• Mike Memoli, Peter Nicholas, Sahil Kapur, “Biden Sees Ukraine Aid as a Priority. But to Get It, He Must Solve a Vexing Immigration Puzzle.” (NBC News, December 7, 2023).
• Zolan Kanno-Youngs, “Biden Tied Ukraine Aid to Border Security, and It Backfired on Him” (The New York Times, December 7, 2023).

The Biden administration is signaling that it is willing to raise the “credible fear” standard that asylum seekers must meet when they are placed in expedited removal proceedings and screened by asylum officers, which would cause more asylum seekers to be rejected if unable to defend their claims while in custody within days of arriving. Republicans will probably want more concessions than that, including a return to family detention and limits to the nearly 70-year-old presidential humanitarian parole authority.

• Jonathan Blitzer, “The Senate Battle Over Immigration and Aid to Ukraine” (The New Yorker, December 7, 2023).
• Ted Hesson, “White House Open to New Asylum Limits for Ukraine Aid, Source Says” (Reuters, Reuters, December 7, 2023).
• “Greg Sargent @Theplumlinegs on Twitter” (Twitter, December 7, 2023).
• “Daniel Goldman @Danielsgoldman on Twitter” (Twitter, December 7, 2023).

The Senate has one week left on its schedule for the 2023 session, though it could add the week of December 18. Lead Senate Republican negotiator James Lankford (Oklahoma) struck a flexible tone, saying he hoped that a bill can pass by the end of the year and that Republicans’ position isn’t “take it or leave it.”

• “Burgess Everett @Burgessev on Twitter” (Twitter, December 7, 2023).
• “Manu Raju @Mkraju on Twitter” (Twitter, December 7, 2023).

Combining Border Patrol apprehensions and people who came to ports of entry, CBP encountered 9,990 people on Wednesday (December 6). That is down from over 12,000 on Tuesday.

• “Anna Giaritelli @anna_giaritelli on Twitter” (Twitter, December 7, 2023).

In order to free up officers to help with migrant processing, CBP has closed its PedWest pedestrian border crossing at the San Ysidro port of entry south of San Diego. The port of entry in Lukeville, Arizona and one of two bridges into Eagle Pass, Texas remain closed. South of Lukeville, authorities in Sonora, Mexico plan to install “checkpoints and ‘migration filters.’”

• “Statement From Cbp on Operations in San Diego, California” (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, December 7, 2023).
• Rafael Avitabile, “Cbp Closing Pedwest in Response to Increased Illegal Border Crossings” (NBC San Diego, December 7, 2023).
• Emily Bregel, “Mexican Officials Hope to Slow Migrant Surge in Lukeville to Get Port Reopened” (The Arizona Daily Star, December 7, 2023).

At a camp in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, where asylum seekers wait for days for Border Patrol agents to process them, ABC News reported, “The lucky ones have tents; however, most sleep on the gravel and use their clothes to shield them from the elements and their backpacks as pillows.”

• Armando Garcia, Mireya Villarreal, Quinn Owen, Timmy Truong, “Migrant Encampments Surging at Border in Jacumba Hot Springs: Reporter’s Notebook” (ABC News, December 7, 2023).

Analyses and Feature Stories

Deaths of women migrants increased sharply during a record year for migrant deaths in Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector (far west Texas and all of New Mexico). Normally, men are the vast majority of recovered remains, but in New Mexico in 2023, of 78 bodies whose gender could be determined, 40 were female, the El Paso Times found.

• Lauren Villagran, “‘It’s Heartbreaking’: Day After Day, New Mexico Investigator Recovers Migrant Remains” (The El Paso Times, December 7, 2023).

On the Right

• Joseph Simonson, “Faced With Record Illegal Immigration, the White House Wants to Expedite Border Crossings” (The Washington Free Beacon, December 8, 2023).
• Aila Slisco, “Migrants Given $5,000 Gift Cards After Crossing Border: Arizona Sheriff” (Newsweek, December 7, 2023).

Developments

As expected, a Senate “test vote” failed, 49-51, on a $110.5 billion bill to fulfill the Biden administration’s request for additional 2024 money for Ukraine, Israel, the border, and other priorities. All 49 Republican senators voted “no,” along with Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who opposes military aid to Israel without conditions, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), who had to vote “no” for procedural reasons.

Schumer scheduled the vote partly to reinvigorate negotiations, which stalled last week, between a small group of senators. Republicans are demanding that the bill come with language clamping down on the right to seek asylum at the border, limiting the 1950s-era presidential authority to offer humanitarian parole to migrants, and other restrictions on immigration.

“I am willing to make significant compromises on the border,” President Joe Biden told reporters. “We need to fix the broken border system. It is broken.”

Changes that Democrats appear inclined to adopt include expanding the number of asylum seekers placed in expedited removal proceedings after being encountered at the border, and requiring them to meet a higher standard of “credible fear” in initial interviews with asylum officers, usually while in custody days after crossing the border.

• Betsy Klein, Lauren Fox, Michael Williams, Priscilla Alvarez, “Biden Tells Congress That It Can’t Wait to Pass Aid for Ukraine as He Tries to Jumpstart Stalled Negotiations” (CNN, December 6, 2023).
• Karoun Demirjian, “Republicans Block Aid to Ukraine, Jeopardizing Its Fight Against Russia” (The New York Times, December 6, 2023).
• Caitlin Yilek, “Democratic Bill With Billions in Aid for Ukraine and Israel Fails to Clear First Senate Hurdle” (CBS News, December 6, 2023).
• Bernd Debusmann Jr, “Senate Republicans Block Ukraine and Israel Aid Bill” (BBC (UK), December 6, 2023).
• Rafael Bernal, “Conservatives Urge Gop to Dig in on Border Talks” (The Hill, December 6, 2023).

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), the party’s main negotiator on a potential deal with Republicans, told National Public Radio “right now there are far too many people crossing the border and being released into the country, many of them don’t have a legitimate claim of asylum,” but “I don’t think it’s in the best traditions of this country to deny people with legitimate claims of asylum access to the United States.”

• Steve Inskeep, “Sen. Chris Murphy Says Gop’s Immigration Policy Demands Are Too Extreme” (Connecticut Public Radio, December 6, 2023).

Border Patrol reported “8,000+ apprehensions” of migrants border-wide on December 5. Reporters for CNN, CBS News, and Fox reported the actual number as one of the highest daily migrant apprehension totals ever: “10,300,” “10,200+,” “more than 10,000,” and “more than 12,000” when including port-of-entry encounters.

• “Chief Jason Owens @Usbpchief on Twitter” (Twitter, December 6, 2023).
• “Priscilla Alvarez @Priscialva on Twitter” (Twitter, December 6, 2023).
• “Camilo Montoya-Galvez @Camiloreports on Twitter” (Twitter, December 6, 2023).
• “Bill Melugin @billmelugin_ on Twitter” (Twitter, December 6, 2023).

Panama has now counted 500,000 migrants passing through the Darién Gap in 2023, EFE reported. The previous full-year record for migration through this dangerous jungle region, set last year, was less than half that (248,284).

• “En 2023 Mas de 500 Mil Migrantes Cruzaron la Selva del Darien” (EFE, Milenio (Mexico), December 6, 2023).

Analyses and Feature Stories

“‘There is a fundamental shift in the Democratic Party on immigration’ over the past six months,” Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute told the Associated Press. Democrats have stopped avoiding discussions of adjusting border policy: “Their backs don’t go up when they see someone saying we want to make some changes in the policies at the border.”

• Colleen Long, Seung Min Kim, “Washington’s Center of Gravity on Immigration Has Shifted to the Right. Can the Parties Make a Deal?” (Associated Press, Associated Press, December 6, 2023).

Of nearly 500 mostly Haitian unaccompanied migrant children whom the U.S. Coast Guard apprehended at sea, in the Caribbean or Florida Straits, between July 2021 and September 2023, all but 12 were sent back to their countries of origin. “It’s often unclear where they go once they return,” reported a ProPublica / New York Times investigation by Seth Freed Wessler.

• Seth Freed Wessler, “The Border Where Different Rules Apply” (Propublica, The New York Times, December 6, 2023).

On the Right

• Jon Jackson, “What Republicans Said About the Southern Border During Debate” (Newsweek, December 6, 2023).

December 6, 2023

Developments

In exchange for supporting Ukraine aid, Republican legislators continue to demand reduced access to asylum and parole, among other border-hardening measures.

A classified Senate briefing about the need for Ukraine and other aid in the Biden administration’s $106 billion supplemental funding request reportedly got ugly: Republican senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) walked out early, after some screamed profanities in the presence of the secretaries of defense and state and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

• Karoun Demirjian, Marc Santora, “Ukraine Aid Falters in Senate as Republicans Insist on Border Restrictions” (The New York Times, December 5, 2023).
• Al Weaver, Alexander Bolton, “Tempers Erupt at Classified Senate Briefing on Ukraine” (The Hill, December 5, 2023).
• “Lisa Desjardins @Lisadnews on Twitter” (Twitter, December 5, 2023).

The Senate’s Democratic majority introduced a funding bill, which may come up for consideration today, reflecting the Biden administration’s request and including no tightening of immigration laws. The 49-seat Republican minority needs just 41 votes to filibuster the bill—to prevent cloture of debate and a final vote—so the bill is likely to fail a cloture vote.

• Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington), “Murray Releases National Security Supplemental” (Senate Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, December 5, 2023).

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) sent a letter to the White House demanding “transformative change to our nation’s border security laws,” starting with H.R. 2, a bill that the House passed in May, without a single Democratic vote. As WOLA explained in November, H.R. 2 would almost completely curtail access to the U.S. asylum system at the U.S.-Mexico border. A chorus of Democratic Senate voices vehemently rejected including H.R. 2.

• Speaker Mike Johnson, “Speaker Johnson Calls on White House to Support Transformative Change to Our Nation’s Border Security Laws” (U.S. House of Representatives, December 5, 2023).
• “Pablo Manriquez @Pabloreports on Twitter” (Twitter, December 5, 2023).

“I’ve heard a lot of people say H.R. 2 or nothing. And I’ve always smiled and said, House Republicans didn’t get a single Democrat on H.R. 2, and they’re asking us to get 20 on our side.OK, well, that’s not realistic,” acknowledged the lead Republican negotiator in Senate talks, Sen. James Lankford (Oklahoma). But Lankford’s side is seeking more concessions than higher standards for asylum-seekers’ initial credible fear interviews, something that some Democrats have said they are open to. According to the Wall Street Journal, Lankford mentioned “other options, including increasing detention bed space or adding a requirement that would allow the government to permanently send asylum seekers to third countries it deems safe for them.”

• Michelle Hackman, Siobhan Hughes, “Senators Are on Collision Course in Ukraine-Aid Vote” (The Wall Street Journal, December 5, 2023).
• Caitlin Yilek, “Democrats Pushing Forward With Ukraine and Israel Aid Amid Growing Dispute Over Border Funding” (CBS News, December 5, 2023).

Arrivals of migrants in Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector (far west Texas and all of New Mexico) have fallen since Title 42’s end, dropping sharply in October. Border Report reported, however, that arrivals have started to pick up again.

• Jesus Baltazar, “Groups of Migrants Steadily Gathering at the U.S.-Mexico Border” (Border Report, December 5, 2023).

Colombia arrested 24 people, including 5 active Navy personnel, for allegedly participating in a migrant-smuggling ring facilitating U.S.-bound transit.

• “24 Members of Migrant Smuggling Network Arrested in Colombia” (EFE, La Prensa Latina, December 5, 2023).
• Jose David Rodriguez, “Capturan a 19 Civiles y 5 Militares de la Armada: Facilitaban el Trafico de Migrantes” (La W Radio (Colombia), December 5, 2023).

Asked by Sean Hannity whether he would “be a dictator” if re-elected, ex-President Donald Trump replied, “No, no, no—other than Day 1. We’re closing the border. And we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.”

• Michael Gold, “Trump Deflects Questions on Retribution and Law-Breaking at Town Hall” (The New York Times, December 5, 2023).

Analyses and Feature Stories

Tom Cartwright’s latest monthly ICE deportation flights monitoring report for Witness at the Border counted 140 removal flights in November, up 39 percent over November 2022, the 3rd-highest monthly total of the past 12 months. Top removal flight destinations last month were Guatemala (57 flights), Honduras (40), El Salvador (14), Colombia (5), and Ecuador (4). Three went to Venezuela and one to Cuba.

• Tom Cartwright, Ice Air Flight Report: November 2023 & Last 12 Months (Witness at the Border, Sunday, December 3, 2023).

At America’s Voice, Gabe Ortiz reported on House Republican backlash against new CBP guidance for LGBT migrants in custody, which instructs agents “to avoid using specific pronouns until they have more information about the individual, as well as to refrain from using derogatory speech, including stereotypes and offensive language.”

• Gabe Ortiz, “House Republicans Are in an Uproar Over New Cbp Guidance Instructing Agents to Not Be Complete Jerks to Lgbtq Migrants” (Americas Voice, December 5, 2023).

The Cato Institute’s David Bier compiled data indicating that Border Patrol’s estimated “got-aways”—migrants believed to have avoided apprehension at the border—fell by half after the end of the Title 42 pandemic expulsions policy.

• David J. Bier, “Ending Title 42 Halved Successful Covert Illegal Immigration” (The Cato Institute, December 5, 2023).

Mexico’s Milenio posits a link between a Sinaloa Cartel faction’s order to cease fentanyl trafficking and a modest recent drop in fentanyl seizures at the border.

• Rafael Lopez Mendez, “Cae Decomiso de Fentanilo en Batalla Contra ‘los Chapitos’” (Milenio (Mexico), December 5, 2023).

On the Right

• Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), “Before Biden Gives One More Dime to Ukraine, He Must First Secure Our Border” (Fox News, December 6, 2023).
• Phillip Linderman, “Mayorkas Opens the Border Again, Now to Ecuadorians” (The American Conservative, December 6, 2023).
• Lora Ries, Victoria Coates, “Biden Wants Open Borders All the Way South to Guatemala” (The Heritage Foundation, December 5, 2023).
• Alberto Gonzales, “The Southern Border Crisis Has Reached a Breaking Point” (CNN, December 5, 2023).

Developments

Talks continue, haltingly, in the U.S. Senate as Republicans demand legal changes tightening asylum and other migration pathways, in exchange for supporting a $106 billion emergency funding request for Ukraine, Israel, the border and other priorities. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said that negotiations between a small group of senators were “on ice.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is not one of the negotiators, implied that the talks were more like blackmail terms than a search for a compromise: “This is not a traditional negotiation, where we expect to come up with a bipartisan compromise on the border. This is a price that has to be paid in order to get the supplemental.” The Democrats’ lead negotiator, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connectictut) replied, “Apparently I’ve wasted the last 3 weeks of my life since this was never a negotiation – just a take it or leave it demand. 🙃”

• “Sahil Kapur @Sahilkapur on Twitter” (Twitter, December 4, 2023).
• “Chris Murphy @Chrismurphyct on Twitter” (Twitter, December 4, 2023).

Semafor reported that Republicans triggered the current impasse in negotiations with a demand “to provide the president new authority to shut down the asylum system at will,” an authority similar to the pandemic-era Title 42 expulsions policy.

• Joseph Zeballos-Roig, “The Gop Demands That Caused Democrats to Walk Out of Border Talks” (Semafor, December 4, 2023).

Some reports indicated that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) would demand that the funding bill include all of H.R. 2: a draconian bill, passed by the House on a party-line vote in May, that would all but shut down asylum. Republican negotiator Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) denied this: Johnson will “get what we send him.”

• “Erik Wasson @Elwasson on Twitter” (Twitter, December 4, 2023).

Sen. Schumer intends to put the appropriation bill up for a “test vote” on Wednesday; it is very likey to fail amid opposition from the chamber’s 49 Republicans, who only need 41 votes to filibuster the bill, keeping it from coming to a final vote.

• Burgess Everett, “Senate Set for Wednesday Test Vote on Biden’s $106b Foreign Aid Plan” (Politico, December 4, 2023).
• Burgess Everett, Jennifer Haberkorn, “Senators Race to Save Faltering Border-Ukraine Negotiations” (Politico, December 4, 2023).
• “Josh Breisblatt @Jbreisblatt on Twitter” (Twitter, December 4, 2023).

Mexico’s migration agency (National Migration Institute, INM) is running out of money for the year, and has suspended migrant deportations and other activities involving transport of personnel, the Associated Press reported. Mexican authorities encountered a record 588,626 migrants during the first 10 months of 2023.

• Maria Verza, “Mexico Halts Deportations and Migrant Transfers Citing Lack of Funds” (Associated Press, Associated Press, December 4, 2023).

While it considers the case, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has prohibited Border Patrol from reaching asylum seekers on U.S. soil by cutting through concertina wire that Texas police and National Guardsmen have laid along the Rio Grande. This temporarily reverses a November 29 district court decision allowing federal agents to cut the razor-sharp wire. Texas’s state government had filed suit in late October seeking to stop Border Patrol from cutting the wire.

• Uriel J. Garcia, “Appeals Court Halts Ruling That Border Patrol Can Legally Cut Texas’ Border Concertina Wire” (The Texas Tribune, December 4, 2023).

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) voiced concern that large numbers of arriving asylum seekers could cause CBP to close other ports of entry in order to free up personnel to process migrants, as happened last week at the temporarily shuttered crossing in remote Lukeville. Hobbs did not rule out sending the state’s National Guard to the border, but is holding off for now.

• Howard Fischer, “Arizona’s Governor Worries U.S. Might Close More Border Crossings” (The Arizona Daily Star, December 4, 2023).
• Wayne Schutsky, “Hobbs Says She Won’t Send National Guard to Arizona-Mexico Border — for Now” (KJZZ Arizona, December 4, 2023).
• Armando Garcia, “What Lukeville Port of Entry at Us-Mexico Border Looked Like as the Border Closed” (The Arizona Republic, December 4, 2023).

Analyses and Feature Stories

The El Paso Times’ Lauren Villagrán visited Sololá, in Guatemala’s highlands, the home region of many of the 40 migrants who died in a horrific March 2023 fire in a Ciudad Juárez migrant detention facility.

• Lauren Villagran, “40 Men Died in the Juarez Detention Center Fire This Year. 5 Came From One Guatemala Community” (The El Paso Times, December 4, 2023).

“The average wait time for non-Mexicans is two months after making an account and requesting an appointment” with the CBP One app, a senior CBP official told Bloomberg. “For Mexicans, the wait time is currently a little over 3 months,” the official added, noting that Mexican citizens have daily limits to prevent them from crowding out other nationalities. This is curious, since the result is that Mexican asylum seekers are forced to wait in the same country where they face threats.

• Julia Love, “Biden’s Border Asylum App Has Migrants Waiting Months in Danger” (Bloomberg, Yahoo!, December 4, 2023).

Developments

The Washington politics website Punchbowl News reported that talks have broken down among a small group of senators discussing tightened asylum standards and other possible migration restrictions in exchange for Republican support for a big funding bill for Ukraine, Israel, and the border. The small group was to keep discussing a possible compromise over the December 2-3 weekend, but has not met since Thursday. The Senate’s Democratic majority may introduce the supplemental funding bill as early as December 7 without any of the migration curbs that Republicans are demanding; Republicans may filibuster it.

• “Senate Border Talks Break Down” (Punchbowl News, December 4, 2023).
• Dara Lind, “What We Know About the Senate Negotiations That Could Wreck Asylum in the Us” (American Immigration Council, December 1, 2023).
• Al Weaver, “Progressives Heap Pressure on Democrats as Border Talks Screech to Halt” (The Hill, December 3, 2023).
• Julia Ainsley, Mike Memoli, Peter Nicholas, “No Good Answers for Biden as Voters Recoil Over Border Crossings” (NBC News, December 2, 2023).
• Christian Hall, Ellen M Gilmer, “Senate Border Policy Talks Drag, Jeopardizing Us Aid to Ukraine” (Bloomberg, December 1, 2023).

One of the Republican negotiators, Sen. James Lankford (Oklahoma), voiced optimism on December 3 that “we can get this done by the end of the year.”

• Alicia Diaz, “Gop Negotiator Sees Us Border Policy Deal Possible by Year’s End” (Bloomberg, Bloomberg, December 3, 2023).
• Paul Kane, “Lankford Enters Arena of Bipartisan Talks, With Global Security Package on the Line” (The Washington Post, December 2, 2023).

The federal judiciary’s Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Texas on December 1 to remove the “buoy wall” that Gov. Greg Abbott (R) had ordered built in the middle of the Rio Grande in June near Eagle Pass. Abbott said he would appeal to the Supreme Court.

• Kevin Vu, “Texas Must Remove Floating Barrier From Rio Grande, Fifth Circuit Court Orders” (The Texas Tribune, December 1, 2023).
• Aaron Torres, Todd J. Gillman, “Appeals Court Tells Texas to Remove Anti-Migrant Buoys, in Setback at Border for Abbott” (The Dallas Morning News, December 1, 2023).
• Valerie Gonzalez, “Court Orders Texas to Move Floating Buoy Barrier That Drew Backlash From Mexico” (Associated Press, Associated Press, December 1, 2023).

Border Patrol’s Tucson, Arizona Sector reported apprehending 17,500 migrants in the week ending December 1. If sustained over a month, that rate would hit a monthly threshold—70,000 apprehensions in a single sector—that has only been reached twice after 2000. CBPannounced that it will temporarily close its port of entry in remote Lukeville, Arizona so that officers stationed there may help Border Patrol to process the large numbers of asylum seekers turning themselves in nearby.

• “Statement From Cbp on Operations in Lukeville, Az” (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, December 1, 2023).
• “John R. Modlin @Usbpchieftca on Twitter” (Twitter, December 1, 2023).
• Anita Snow, “Us Border Officials Are Closing a Remote Arizona Crossing Because of Overwhelming Migrant Arrivals” (Associated Press, Associated Press, December 1, 2023).
• Paul Ingram, “Lukeville Border Crossing to Close Monday as More Migrants Appear in Nearby Wilderness” (The Tucson Sentinel (Tucson Arizona), December 1, 2023).
• Emily Bregel, “Asylum Seekers Face Cold, Hunger in Arrival Crush on Arizona Border” (The Arizona Daily Star, December 1, 2023).

A group of 18 migrants from Mexico and Guatemala, including children, was kidnapped after flying from Tijuana to Matamoros for their “CBP One” appointments at the U.S. port of entry there. As of December 3, as many as 17 of the 18 victims may have been released after making ransom payments. The incident highlights the risks to migrants in Tamaulipas, the only Mexican border state to have a Level Four travel warning from the U.S. State Department.

• Khennia Reyes, Migrantes Temen Viajar a Matamoros Tras Secuestro (El Imparcial (Tijuana Mexico), Sunday, December 3, 2023).
• Khennia Reyes, Secuestran a Migrantes Que Viajaron de Tj a Matamoros: Rivera Colon (El Imparcial (Tijuana Mexico), Friday, December 1, 2023).
• Said Betanzos, “Secuestran a Grupo de Migrantes Que Viajaban a Tamaulipas” (Milenio (Mexico), December 1, 2023).

Analyses and Feature Stories

For the second time in ten days, the New York Times published an analysis of Chinese citizens’ increased migration to the U.S.-Mexico border. “Every immigrant I interviewed this year who passed through the Darién Gap,” reporter Li Yuan wrote, “came from a lower middle-class background. They said that they feared falling into poverty if the Chinese economy worsened, and that they could no longer see a future for themselves or their children in their home country.”

• Li Yuan, “Why More Chinese Are Risking Danger in Southern Border Crossings to U.S.” (The New York Times, December 3, 2023).

Honduras’s ContraCorriente reported on the harrowing experience of Honduran women migrating in an attempt to flee domestic or gender-based violence.

• Laura Garcia Caceres, “Escapar de su Agresor para Enfrentar Mas Violencia: La Historia de una Migrante Hondurena” (Contra Corriente, December 2, 2023).

WOLA’s Adam Isacson testified in a November 30 hearing of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee about “the U.S. Border Crisis and the American Solution to an International Problem.” WOLA has posted a page with video excerpts and the text of the written and oral testimonies delivered.

• “Testimony: WOLA Urges Congress to Protect Asylum and Update Obsolete Border Policies” (Washington Office on Latin America, December 1, 2023).

On the Right:

• Chuck Devore, “As Biden’s Border Disintegrates, Texas Democrats Plot With Mexico” (Fox News, December 1, 2023).