Biden willing to make ‘significant compromises’ on border policy amid fight for Ukraine funding

President Biden on Wednesday said he’s willing to make “significant compromises” on border policy as he seeks a breakthrough on funding for Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

“I’ve made it clear that we need Congress to make changes to fix what is a broken immigration system, because we know, we all know it’s broken, and I’m willing to do significantly more,” Biden said in remarks at the White House. “But in terms of changes of policy and to provide resources we need at the border, I’m willing to change policy as well.”

Biden said he’s asked Congress for billions of dollars in funding for additional border agents, more immigration judges and more asylum officers. He did not detail what changes he would support in border policy. The White House has denied it considered offering permanent changes to asylum laws in exchange for support for Ukraine aid, an idea that caused instant backlash among immigration advocates.

White House officials have been in talks with Senate Democrats and Republicans on border security, Biden said, criticizing GOP lawmakers who have suggested they can use immigration policy as leverage in the push for Ukraine funding.

“Republicans think they can get everything they want without any bipartisan compromise. That’s not the answer. And now they’re willing to literally kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield and damage our national security in the process,” Biden said. 

“I am willing to make significant compromises on the border,” he added. “We need to fix the broken border system. It is broken. And thus far I’ve gotten no response.”

Biden’s remarks come as the White House has gone public with its warnings that the U.S. will run out of money to provide military support to Ukraine by the end of the year without Congress passing additional funding. 

White House budget director Shalanda Young laid out in detail in a letter to congressional leaders this week how the government has already run through most of the roughly $111 billion previously appropriated for Ukraine aid.

But Republicans, who control the House, have signaled more money for Ukraine must be tied to significant changes in immigration policy.

Tempers boiled over on Tuesday during a classified Senate briefing on Ukraine, when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) of attempting to hijack the meeting to have an unrelated conversation on border security. 

Senate Republican leaders are urging their GOP colleagues to block legislation to provide more than $61 billion in military and foreign aid for Ukraine because the package does not include immigration and asylum reforms. The package is set for a key procedural vote Wednesday.

The White House in late October sent an emergency funding request of roughly $100 billion to Congress seeking additional money for border security, allies in the Indo-Pacific and for Israel and Ukraine in their respective conflicts against Hamas and Russia.

Roughly $61 billion of that request covered money for Ukraine, which included $30 billion in equipment for Ukraine from Department of Defense stocks and to backfill those stocks.

The White House has for weeks pleaded with Congress to take action on its supplemental request, arguing that a failure to do so would jeopardize Ukraine’s progress in its fight against Russia, particularly heading into the difficult winter months.

Biden has made the case to the American public that Ukraine’s fight has ramifications domestically. He has asserted that while the conflict may seem far away, a Russian victory would have grave consequences for democracies worldwide and could ultimately draw the United States into a larger conflict.