White House, Congress scramble on last-minute deals on Ukraine and US immigration

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will make his case for more U.S. aid for the war against Russia during meetings in Washington this week, as lawmakers struggle to strike a deal linking funding for Kyiv with domestic immigration controls. Zelenskiy has been invited to meetings at the White House and with members of Congress on Tuesday. Many Republican lawmakers have questioned continued aid to Ukraine. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Report this ad His arrival in Washington comes as Congress is under a tight - if not impossible - deadline for acting, as it is scheduled to go into recess for the year by Friday. The next round of Ukraine aid has been held up by a demand from House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans that no more funds be dispatched unless steps are first taken to tighten controls on the U.S. border with Mexico. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Report this ad One source with knowledge of the Senate bipartisan negotiations said on Monday that productive discussions had continued through the weekend into Monday. But two prominent Democratic lawmakers on Monday issued warnings on the direction of negotiations. Senator Alex Padilla, who chairs an immigration panel, and Representative Nanette Barragan, head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said in a joint statement that they considered it "unconscionable that the president would consider going back on his word to enact what amounts to a ban on asylum." Advertisement · Scroll to continue Report this ad The comments came after a source familiar with bipartisan Senate negotiations earlier said the White House is open to making it harder to obtain U.S. asylum as a way to reduce the number of migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Expanding the expedited removal of migrants, Padilla and Barragan added, would amount to "terrorizing communities across the U.S." President Joe Biden has urged Congress to act by year's end and Democrats in Congress were trying to win approval of about $50 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine. Also included in Senate Democrats' measure is humanitarian and economic aid for the government in Kyiv, as well as $14 billion for Israel as it wages war against Hamas in Gaza. On Sunday, a senior administration official said the White House has been working with House Republican leaders to find common ground, but the talks have not developed to a point where Biden’s direct intervention could close the deal. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has pushed for some type of pro-immigrant provision, such as expedited work permits for migrants or better access to legal representation, the source also said. Congress has been warned that a failure to renew U.S. military assistance to Ukraine could tip the war in Russia's favor, creating national security threats for the West. By mid-November, the U.S. Defense Department had used 97% of $62.3 billion in supplemental funding and the State Department had used all of the $4.7 billion in military assistance funding for Ukraine it had been allocated, U.S. budget director Shalanda Young said last week. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told NBC's "Meet the Press" show on Sunday that the latest proposal from Republican Senator James Lankford was "unreasonable." He also said the White House was intensifying its efforts with Congress to reach a deal. Lankford has not made public details of his latest effort. Senate leaders have hoped that Murphy and Lankford could cobble together a border security compromise, having struck up a friendship this year during a trip to the southwest U.S. border. Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told participants at an annual Doha Forum conference on Sunday: "I’m sad to report we are far away" from any bipartisan deal. He added that he hoped legislation could be enacted "by early next year," possibly beyond the schedule Biden sought. Even if a bipartisan deal was struck, several Democrats have worried that former President Donald Trump, the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, could stand in the way. "Would they (Republican lawmakers) accept significant progress, or is Trump going to make the final call," said Democratic Senator Peter Welch in an interview on Thursday. Reporting by Ted Hesson and Richard Cowan in Washington, Jarrett Renshaw in Los Angeles and Andrew Mills in Doha; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Deepa Babington For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.