Congressional leaders have been negotiating adding immigration policy restrictions to the more than $100 billion supplemental aid request

By Nicole Gaudiano, Rebecca Morin, Lindsey McPherson and Nolan D. McCaskill

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday called for “meaningful” border policy changes after meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss emergency funding for Ukraine aid.

“We understand the necessity about Ukraine funding and we want to say that the status quo is unacceptable,” Johnson said. “We need the commander in chief of this country, the president of the United States, to show strength on the world stage and not weakness. We cannot continue with the current status quo.”

Biden met with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at the White House. Chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, Appropriations and Intelligence also joined the meeting.

None of the lawmakers answered questions after the meeting.

While Johnson said funding for Ukraine is important, he added that he initiated that the border also be a “top priority.”

“We understand that there's concern about the safety, security, sovereignty of Ukraine, but the American people have those same concerns about our own domestic sovereignty and our safety and our security,” Johnson said.

Johnson laid out what Republicans want to see in the agreement, including the restoration of the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as Remain in Mexico. The policy, which was implemented under the Trump administration, forced migrants at the southern border to stay in Mexico as they await an immigration hearing.

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Republicans also want to see reforms to the asylum and parole systems, Johnson said, a move that could limit the president’s actions that have expanded legal pathways for some migrants trying to seek asylum in the United States.

Biden last year implemented a “humanitarian parole” program that would allow some migrants, who pass a background check, from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to be sponsored by a person in the United States so they can come to the U.S. to live and work lawfully for two years.

Democratic lawmakers offered an optimistic view of the meeting.

Schumer described the meeting as “very positive” and emphasized that the lawmakers present agreed that aid for Ukraine must be passed.

“There was tremendous focus on Ukraine and an understanding that if we don't come to Ukraine’s aid, that the consequences for America around the globe would be nothing short of devastating,” Schumer said.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan detailed "what Ukraine would run out of and when," as well as "the consequences if Ukraine doesn't get the stuff they need in a very short period of time and the effect it would have," Schumer said to reporters on Capitol Hill. Schumer added he himself warned attendees that "this is a seminal moment in American history, and if we fail, history will look upon us extremely poorly."

"It was remarkable consensus in that room," Schumer said. "Just about every person in that room -- Democrat, Republican, House, Senate -- talked about the importance of aiding Ukraine" and fixing the "broken" U.S.-Mexico border. "No one said Ukraine isn't important. No one said it should be secondary."

Schumer said and he and McConnell will brief their members on a border deal before taking it to the floor.

Jeffries said the meeting was “a very positive, forward looking candid discussion.” But he emphasized that any immigration agreement must win support from both parties.

“There was also an openness to in a bipartisan way, addressing the situation at the border,” Jeffries said. “It has to be bipartisan. It has to be reasonable. It has to be effective. It has to be consistent with American values.”

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul said to reporters on Capitol Hill that he brought up the “Remain in Mexico” policy as it falls under his panel's jurisdiction. He claimed that if asylum seekers claims were adjudicated in Mexico, “you don't have the problem of releasing them into the United States, so you don't have catch a release.”

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Biden did not respond to that suggestion with any specific commitments, McCaul said.

"He said the border is broken, we need to fix it. And he said I recognize we need significant changes,” McCaul added.

McCaul said he is traveling to the border on Friday and then to Mexico City to meet with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and other Mexican officials, with plans to visit a fentanyl lab.

"We've got to get Mexico to agree to this again," he said of restorying to the remain in Mexico asylum rule.

McCaul acknowledged that House Republicans will not be able to get every provision of their border package, H.R. 2, but he said they will continue to fight for as much of it as they can as negotiations progress.

"I think the Senate is going to act more quickly, and we'll see what it looks like," he said.

Congressional leaders for months have discussed tying a potential agreement to add border security and immigration policy restrictions to the Biden administration's more than $100 billion supplemental request to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as funding for management of the nation’s southern border.

Last week, the bipartisan group of senators that have been leading the immigration negotiations with the White House said they were hoping to announce a deal this week.

McConnell on Wednesday ahead of the meeting said that negotiators are getting closer to “delivering serious, lasing solutions” regarding the increase of migrants at the border.

“Negotiators are making headway toward the most significant border enhancements in almost 30 years,” McConnell said.

Schumer expressed optimism ahead of the meeting that lawmakers will be able to come to an agreement on the emergency aid.

“I am really hopeful that negotiations are in the right direction. We are closer than we have ever been,” Schumer said. “For the first time, I'm optimistic. For the first time, I think the chances of getting it done in the Senate are greater than not getting it done.”

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Johnson Calls on Biden to ‘Show Strength’ After Meeting on Ukraine Aid