Senate GOP demands Democrats address border crisis

Senate bargainers thought they had reached a deal late Monday to dedicate $10 billion to COVID-19 treatments and vaccines, as well as research on future variants. But when the deal came up for a procedural vote, it could not garner the 60 yeas needed to begin debate. Republicans said they would withhold support for the measure unless Democrats agreed to vote on an amendment preventing President Joe Biden from lifting Title 42, a pandemic measure that limits who can cross the U.S. southern border.

What is going on at the border? Each month, more than 150,000 migrants are either crossing illegally or showing up without documents at ports of entry, according to Customs and Border Protection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that it will revoke the Title 42 restrictions on May 23, potentially allowing an influx of asylum-seekers to further tax the overburdened immigration system. The Biden administration is also under pressure to get more COVID-19 funding approved — the health care industry has reported it is low on vaccine booster doses and monoclonal antibody treatments.

Dig deeper: Read Addie Michaelian’s report in Compassion about Biden’s latest immigration proposals.