White House denies floating asylum-reform-for-Ukraine-aid trade

The White House on Friday emphatically denied reports that its personnel had considered offering Republicans permanent changes to U.S. asylum policy in order win support for Ukraine aid.

The original report from Politico was published Thursday, stating, "[t]op Biden officials are preparing Democratic lawmakers and immigration policy advocates for the likelihood the administration will have to swallow compromises on asylum law in order for the president’s national security funding request to pass." The article cited "four people familiar with the talks."

White House spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández emphatically denied the claims, however, saying "[t]his report is not accurate. As we’ve said repeatedly, Congress needs to take action to support Ukraine and to provide sufficient resources for the border."

"Our immigration system is broken and only Congress has the power to comprehensively address it, that is why in his first day in office the President presented a comprehensive immigration reform bill to Congress," The Hill quoted him as saying.

President Joe Biden has requested that Congress approve a $106 billion spending package, including $14.3 billion for Israel, $61 billion for Ukraine, and additional funding for border operations. Republicans, however, have expressed opposition to pairing Israel and Ukraine aid and passed a bill solely containing funds for Israel that Biden has threatened to veto.

Support for Israel is considerably more popular among Republicans than continued aid to Ukraine to help fend off the Russian invasion. Earlier this week, reporting emerged that House Speaker Mike Johnson had informed Republican senators that he planned to tie Ukraine aid to border security measures.

While reports on the Johnson meeting offered few specifics as to what measures the House speaker had in mind, the Politico report indicated that the administration had mulled tightening the "credible fear" standard that a would-be asylee must meet to avoid repatriation. 

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.