Negotiators in Congress reach a deal on spending and border security

Washington Examiner:
House and Senate negotiators late Monday struck a bipartisan deal “in principle” that would dodge a second partial government shutdown by providing President Trump $1.375 billion in funding for physical barriers along 55 miles of the Rio Grande Valley.

The accord, which must pass the House and Senate and receive the president’s signature, resolved a weekend impasse over illegal immigrant detentions.

By Monday night, both sides were claiming victory in the talks, although the exact details of the agreement weren't yet clear, and two of the major claims seemed to contradict each other.

For example, Democrats over the weekend were first trying to cap the number of illegal immigrant detentions but backed away from that demand. However, a top Democratic aide told the Washington Examiner that Democrats had secured a 17 percent reduction in detention beds needed to hold illegal immigrants, although it wasn't clear how that reduction was calculated.

“We reduce the number of ICE detention beds by 17.4 percent, putting a critical check on the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy that is tearing communities apart,” the aide said.

On the other side, Republicans were claiming victory because the deal includes no statutory caps on the illegal immigrant detention population and secures “the funding and flexibility necessary to maintain its current detention population and respond to surges in apprehensions,” a senior Republican aide told the Washington Examiner.

This GOP aide added that the deal provides “enough flexibility” to raise the number of detention beds needed to hold illegal immigrants to 52,000.

The $1.375 billion in funding for a border barrier is far below President Trump’s request for $5.7 billion for a southern border wall, but the GOP aide said all of the money can be used for physical barriers and is double the miles of new fencing funding provided in 2018.

The aide said any currently deployed design can be used to construct a barrier, including the steel slat fence Trump has touted.
...
The Democrat proposal to release more criminal illegal aliens from custody was insane.  It does show how extreme their open borders agenda has become.  The people detained by ICE are illegals with criminal backgrounds who have also committed crimes in the US.  Why Democrats would want these criminals in their community makes no sense.  The Trump administration believes that it has the flexibility to used otehr moeny to support border barriers.

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