23 July 2021
Senate Democrats are considering including about $10 billion in their $3.5-trillion budget reconciliation package for border security — focused on infrastructure at legal entry points, two sources familiar with their plans tell Axios.
Why it matters: Democrats already planned to include roughly $120 billion for pathways to citizenship for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status holders and undocumented essential workers. The sources said there will be even more to address immigration — with more direct infrastructure ties.
What we're hearing: Details haven't been finalized, but the funds could be put toward facilities for handling asylum claims; additional staff for higher cross-border traffic areas; expanding immigration courts to address backlogs; alternatives-to-detention programs, and various ports-of-entry repairs, three sources familiar with the negotiations say.
- They also expect roughly $10 billion to be allotted for border infrastructure.
- The list underscores the border priorities of Democrats and the Biden administration — a clear departure from the previous administration.
- President Trump's team, on multiple occasions, stalled budget negotiations over its funding demands for an expanded border wall.
What they're saying: Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, would not confirm whether border security was a part of the reconciliation package but said his perspective on infrastructure "includes modernization of ports at our border."
- "I’ve consistently advocated for making smart, modern investments when it comes to border security, including requiring 100% of screening of passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles that come into the United States."
What to watch: All of this could potentially be a pipe dream.
Although reconciliation would allow Democrats to pass measures with a simple majority, winning approval from the Senate parliamentarian to use it for tackling immigration and border infrastructure could be a problem.
- Remember: When senators first took a stab at using reconciliation to pass their $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief legislation, the parliamentarian ruled they could not tack on a provision to raise the minimum wage.
- According to a statute known as the Byrd Rule, such provisions cannot be "merely incidental" to the government's finances.
State of play: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) set Wednesday as a deadline for getting all 50 Democrats on board with the general framework for the $3.5 trillion, Democrat-only proposal.
- Some moderate Democrats — namely, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) — are still skeptical of the steep price tag and certain progressive components, but Schumer says they're on track with his goal of putting the budget resolution on the floor in early August.
- His intention is to pass the measure before members break for the summer recess.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.