White House open to new border expulsion law, mandatory detention and increased deportations in talks with Congress

Washington — The Biden administration on Tuesday indicated to congressional lawmakers that it would be willing to support a new border authority to expel migrants without asylum screenings, as well as a dramatic expansion of immigration detention and deportations, to convince Republicans to back aid to Ukraine, four people familiar with the matter told CBS News.

The White House informed Senate Democrats that it could back those sweeping and hardline immigration policy changes as part of the negotiations over President Biden’s emergency funding request, a roughly $100 billion package that includes military aid to Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine, as well as money to bolster border enforcement and hire additional immigration officials. 

For weeks, a small group of senators have been attempting to reach an immigration enforcement deal. Republicans have conditioned any further assistance to Ukraine to policy changes designed to reduce the unprecedented levels of illegal crossings along the southern border. 

In recent days, Mr. Biden’s administration has intensified its engagement with lawmakers. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas started engaging with negotiators in the Senate this week, two people with knowledge of his engagement told CBS News. The secretary was seen arriving on Capitol Hill on Tuesday afternoon as lawmakers continued talks aimed at reaching a deal before Congress adjourns for the holidays. CBS News reached out to the White House and the offices of the lead Senate negotiators for comment.

Specifically, the White House indicated that it would support a new, far-reaching legal authority to allow U.S. border officials to summarily expel migrants without processing their asylum claims. The measure would effectively revive the Trump-era Title 42 pandemic order and pause U.S. asylum law, without a public health justification.

The administration would also back a nationwide expansion of a process known as expedited removal that allows immigration officials to deport migrants without court hearings if they don’t ask for asylum or if they fail their initial asylum interviews. The program is currently limited to the border region.

Moreover, the White House would be willing to mandate the detention of migrants who are allowed into the country pending the adjudication of their claims. It’s unclear how this provision would work since the U.S. government has never had the detention space to detain all migrants who cross into the country illegally.  

The administration and some Senate Democrats have also previously indicated a willingness to raise the initial screening standard for so-called credible fear interviews that migrants have to pass to avoid being deported under expedited removal.