PABLO PARDOWashington Correspondent
Washington Correspondent
Updated Wednesday, February 7, 2024-22:32
Since September, the
United States Republican Party
has been saying that it will not approve more aid to Ukraine if the White House does not agree to accept a law that drastically stops the arrival of undocumented immigrants to the country. The relationship between both concepts - an invasion of an allied country by a hostile power, and illegal immigration - is not based on logic, but on political strategy. What it is about is forcing Joe Biden to adopt tough measures against immigration, which will distance him from the Democratic left wing, as a prerequisite for helping Ukraine. Meanwhile, aid to Ukraine has been drying up. Since January 11, the US has no more capacity, with the exception of the GLSDB gliding bombs, to support
Kiev militarily.
However, against all odds, three senators - a Democrat, a Republican, and an independent who votes with the Democrats - have reached an agreement on immigration reform that is politically acceptable to the Republican Party. The plan should also be voted on together with the proposal for
military aid to Ukraine for 57 billion euros, to Israel for 13.3 billion, and to Taiwan and
other countries neighboring China for 3.7 billion.
Faced with the possibility that the anti-immigration plan would go ahead, the Republicans have changed their minds, and have decided to vote against it. It is not conviction, but obligation. Virtually Donald Trump's entire election campaign is based on immigration and, therefore, he needs to make the situation on the border with Mexico as difficult as possible for Biden. Trump, who spent four years calling for an
anti-immigration law,
now says that this is not necessary and that the president alone has enough mechanisms to put the situation under control.
This is how the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Mike Johnson,
has decided that the project will not even be voted on, lest some Republican join the ranks of the Democrats and give Biden a victory. It's something that happened on Tuesday when, in a horrific act of ridicule, the Republicans could not approve either their proposal to carry out an
impeachment
against the Homeland Security Advisor - and head of the immigration system -
Alejandro Mayorkas
, nor their proposal to approve only the 13.3 billion in aid to Israel so that that country continues the war in Gaza without problems. The reason was that several Republicans broke with their own party to vote against both initiatives.
With the bill completely dead in the House, the Senate had no incentive to vote on it. Add to this the fact that the Republican senators are in the midst of approaching Donald Trump in anticipation of him being the party's candidate for the White House, and it explains why the proposal that they themselves had agreed upon was defeated in the Senate.
Paradoxically,
that opens the possibility that aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan will be voted on.
Since there is no possibility of an immigration agreement, the Democrats, who have a majority in the Senate, are going to put the proposal to a vote tonight. Although it seems unlikely that this will achieve the necessary support, at least the idea enters the voting process, thus getting it underway. Added to this is the fact that it is politically very difficult for Republicans to say "no" to a law that not only supports Ukraine but also Israel. It is not clear that this is the light at the end of the tunnel for aid to kyiv. But it is a situation that seemed unattainable just a week ago.