NOGALES, Ariz. (KGUN) — The proposed Senate border bill negotiated by Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema would bring sweeping changes to the U.S. border.
Read the bill for yourself here.
In Nogales, it could mean the end of the street releases that have been ongoing for months.
In Lukeville, it could allow Border Patrol to quickly remove migrantswho turn themselves in when the "Border Emergency Authority" is in place.
The bill puts a cap on the total number of migrants allowed to enter the U.S. asylum system and also makes it more difficult for them to pass their initial screening.
Currently there is no cap on the number of people who can claim asylum in America.
“The border system is broken, there are gaps in our asylum system, and they are being exploited by criminal cartels," Senator Sinema said in a call with the media Sunday evening.
She says the bill would rapidly expand Border Patrol detention capabilities by adding 16,000 beds and getting migrants decisions on their asylum claims in 180 days.
It would also suspend new asylum claims if apprehensions go over an average 5,000 people a day for a week, or if there are over 8,500 apprehensions in a single day.
Many migrants at the border have said they came to the United States to work.
“We call that economic migrancy,” Senator Sinema says about the people I’ve been interviewing saying they’re coming to the United States to work. “We’ve got to change the law so the folks who are coming in to claim asylum are actually facing asylum, and are not economic workers.” pic.twitter.com/HbURXbt3ez
— Adam Klepp (@AdamKleppAZ) December 7, 2023
“In my country opportunity is destroyed, there is no work. That is why we came here so they can give us a new opportunity," one migrant said in Lukeville on December 4.
Coming to the U.S. for economic reasons doesn’t qualify migrants for asylum.
The government accepts asylum claims only with proof for fear of persecution in a migrant’s home country because of race, religion, nationality, social group, or political opinion.
Senator Sinema says while her bill doesn’t change asylum criteria, it does make the initial screening migrants get before their release tougher.
“They will have to prove at a higher standard than in the past. They are fleeing persecution and violence. If they are unable to meet this higher standard in the initial interview they will be removed from the country," Sinema said.
The changes proposed at the border currently carry a cost of over $20 billion.
The bill could be voted on in the Senate as soon as Wednesday.
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Adam Klepp is a reporter for KGUN 9. At his previous station in Yuma, Adam focused on a range of local issues including the border, water rights and healthcare. He is originally from Detroit, Michigan, and attended both Loyola University Chicago and Syracuse University. Share your story ideas and important issues with Adam by emailing adam.klepp@kgun9.com or by connecting on Twitter.