Chamber of Commerce calls for immediate passage of border bill

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called on Congress to pass a bipartisan immigration and defense deal on Monday after negotiators unveiled the text of the long-awaited agreement on border security and funding for Ukraine and Israel.

“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pleased to see desperately needed border security, asylum, and immigration reforms included in the emergency supplemental funding proposal before the U.S. Senate,” said Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Chamber of Commerce, in a statement.

“The economic disruption and human suffering wrought by our border crisis have become so severe that Congress cannot afford to ignore these problems any longer,” Bradley continued. “We look forward to working with Members of Congress to pass these commonsense measures that will improve America’s security by addressing our southern border and supporting Ukraine and Israel.”

The $118 billion deal includes about $60 billion to support Ukraine in its nearly two-year war with Russia, as well as $20 billion in border funding, $14 billion in security assistance for Israel and $10 billion in humanitarian aid.

The endorsement from the business lobbying giant comes as the deal faces pushback from hard-line conservatives and allies of former President Trump.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declared the deal “dead on arrival” in the House, shortly after the 370-page bill was unveiled Sunday night. 

“I’ve seen enough,” Johnson said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “This bill is even worse than we expected, and won’t come close to ending the border catastrophe the President has created. As the lead Democrat negotiator proclaimed: Under this legislation, ‘the border never closes.’”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) similarly vowed the bill would not receive a vote in the lower chamber, and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) slammed the deal as an “absolute non-starter.”

Trump also weighed in on the newly unveiled bill text Monday, dismissing it as a “great gift to the Democrats” and a “Death Wish for the Republican Party.”

“It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans,” the former president said in a post on Truth Social.