Ukraine, Border Talks Face Added Challenge of Writing Text Fast

Lawmakers grasping for a US border security compromise face a painful reality check if they manage to strike a deal: drafting immigration legislation is a time suck.

The long-shot but high-stakes negotiations are continuing into next week after the White House ramped up its involvement, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer delayed the Senate’s holiday recess to keep up momentum.

Lawmakers face a ticking clock as Republicans insist on significant changes to border policies as a condition of sending more aid to Ukraine. Negotiators say they’ve moved closer to a deal, but on paper there’s virtually no chance lawmakers and staff can write and finalize border text before the end of the year.

“We can’t get it wrong,” said top GOP negotiator James Lankford (Okla.), who has complained of slow progress.

Even writing a bill after the holidays would be a strain. Immigration is one of the most complex areas of US law, built on layers of complex, interwoven statutes, regulations, court precedent, and international treaties.

Immigration specialists warn that Congress risks serious unintended consequences if it rushes the drafting of a bill as far-reaching as negotiators have discussed.

“There’s zero chance that you could draft something well quickly,” said Kerri Talbot, executive director of the advocacy group Immigration Hub. It’s a rising concern from immigrants’ rights advocates, who also oppose the enforcement-focused direction of the talks overall.

Making Mistakes

Senators and Biden administration officials have discussed expanding migrant detention, raising the bar to seek refuge in the US, increasing deportations, and making it easier for border officials to expel asylum-seekers.

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Writing a bill that accounts for US obligations under international refugee law would be a particularly complex task, as negotiators consider broader authority to turn away asylum-seekers, said retired Rep. Bruce Morrison (D-Conn.), who penned a major update of the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1990.

Legislative staff can draft text quickly, but it’s almost certain to include mistakes and unintended consequences, he said, and Congress can’t count on cleaning up mistakes in a follow-up technical corrections bill in today’s hyper-partisan congressional environment.

Morrison spent a year drafting the 1990 immigration bill and several weeks redrafting in conference. Talbot recalled needing weeks to draft about a paragraph for a failed effort to include sweeping immigration changes in a Democratic agenda bill during the last Congress. And it took six months to write comprehensive immigration legislation the Senate passed in 2013, she said.

Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) and Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), who introduced an ambitious bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year, told reporters they were skeptical of the Senate’s effort to find what Salazar called a “quick fix.”

Many advocates and former border officials say certain proposals — including a new migrant expulsion authority and increased detention — would only contribute to chaos by increasing crossing attempts and creating overcrowding.

“Rushing into a deal is foolhardy, and I guarantee you we and the Congress will be right back in the same situation next year because the challenges at the border won’t be solved,” Greg Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said during a press call Friday.

‘There’s No Choice’

Lawmakers outside the Senate’s core negotiating trio — Lankford and Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) — are growing exasperated with the lack of progress on paper.

“They haven’t shown text,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Thursday, blaming Democrats. “They haven’t written down what they’ve agreed to.”

Graham and other GOP senators released a partisan framework last month, and House Republicans passed a far-reaching hardline bill in May that a final deal would likely draw from, at least in part.

Schumer teed up a vote next week on the embattled border-Ukraine package even if a deal isn’t done — a move that keeps pressure on negotiators

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) acknowledged he has concerns about rushing out legislative text whenever a deal is reached.

“But there’s no choice; we just have to do it,” he said. “We created this timeline.”