(NewsNation) — This week, a bipartisan Senate group will be trying to come up with changes to the country’s asylum laws in hopes of reducing the number of migrant encounters at the southern border.
It’s a complicated effort, one Congress has been attempting and failing at for literally decades, with the last substantial changes to immigration law made in the 1990s.
It’s also difficult because a border and asylum policy measure is going to be part of a larger package including military aid for Israel and Ukraine.
Some high-profile members have publicly expressed doubts about whether such a package will come together before the end of the year, even as Israel and Ukraine are both in the midst of their own wars.
While there’s nothing on paper just yet, Republican sources pushing for asylum changes told NewsNation that a few things must be included.
Proposed asylum changes include higher standards for “credible fear” interviews, which determine if an individual can enter and begin an asylum case, additional border wall construction, hiring more border agents and offering higher pay for agents.
All of those changes will make this a heavy lift for Congress, especially when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he wants to put the border package, along with aid to Israel and Ukraine, on the Senate floor for a vote the week of Dec. 4.
In the meantime, cities like New York, Chicago and Denver, among others, are continuing to struggle with caring for migrant populations. Collectively, U.S. states have spent tens of millions of dollars to transport migrants to deal with the situation on the border.