The mayor of Denver joined Colorado’s senators at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday to urge Congress to support cities being burdened by the migrant crisis.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston held a press conference alongside Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO), where the three encouraged negotiators to include resources for cities facing record migrant surges in the bipartisan border security deal. The group, joined by Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO) and Brittany Pettersen (D-CO), also emphasized the need for expanded work permits for undocumented aliens in the agreement.
Immigrants, Johnston said, “don’t have the federal support they need to be able to have resources to help them integrate successfully into their new lives in Denver.”
“All that is required is a clear act of courage from the Congress to take action on the things that cities need to be successful,” the Denver mayor explained. “That is, for us, work authorization so that folks arrive in the United States and arrive in Denver with the ability to do what they want to do, which is to work to support themselves and their families.”
“It means federal resources to make sure we can help support that integration and welcome and support,” he continued. “And it means a coordinated plan for entry so that we have cities and states across the country that can all do our part to help this be a successful arrival for both new migrants and for cities.”
Johnston traveled to Washington for the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting that will culminate with a bipartisan meeting at the White House on Friday with President Joe Biden.
Bennet, a negotiator on the potential agreement, told reporters, “We should have as part of this deal a work authorization system in place that’s generous, not for the benefit of the people that are coming here, but for the benefit of the United States and the benefit of our economy.”
A bipartisan working group of senators has spent over a month negotiating a border security deal, which would be added to a defense spending bill that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Negotiators on both sides have acknowledged that the border measure is critical to passing the legislation through both chambers.
McConnell, who has been Ukraine’s staunchest GOP ally since Russia launched its war last February, has said he supports the larger supplemental bill as long as it includes “credible” border policy changes.
Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) have been leading the negotiations, which have centered largely on changes to federal asylum policy and how the Biden administration uses the humanitarian parole authority. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) has also been heavily involved in the talks.
There have also been reports that the White House has offered to establish a new border expulsion law and increase mandatory detention rates as part of the negotiations, though no one from the Senate working group or the Biden administration has confirmed as much publicly.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has publicly insisted that the border provision in Biden’s foreign aid legislation be the Senate’s version of H.R. 2, House Republicans’ signature border bill. Senate GOP negotiators, however, have pushed back on the notion that they are demanding Democrats agree to H.R. 2.
Negotiations now largely center on disputes over parole system reforms, which remains the biggest sticking point.
Johnson has begun to face threats to his speakership over the supplemental spending request, with lawmakers saying they’d file a motion to vacate and paralyze the House if he were to pass Ukraine aid or agree to keep the government open.
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Asked how such issues in the House could impact the supplemental’s chances of passing, Crow suggested that Democrats would be willing to form a coalition government to keep the lower chamber from losing another speaker.
“We can go to Speaker Johnson and say, ‘We understand the challenges that you’re facing, but let’s come together, let’s see what we can do to provide some buffer to you to make a deal and maybe some element of protection to get this done,’” Crow explained. “Because if we do, it could be incredible for our country in a very positive way.”
