Biden says he is confident of reaching an immigration deal next week

(CNN) –– US President Joe Biden said he is optimistic that a bipartisan immigration package will emerge in the Senate next week that could finally break the impasse over his funding request. Enough to aid Ukraine.

During his remarks to a group of mayors from around the country at the White House this Friday, Biden said he wants “big changes” to US immigration rules. The President has maintained that he is open to radical changes in related policies. To approve an agreement with immigration. Republicans in Congress have blocked Biden’s request for billions in additional aid for Ukraine as they seek to tighten new border rules.

“My team has been at the table for weeks negotiating an agreement with a bipartisan group of senators, including at the border, because I believe we need significant policy changes at the border, including changes to our asylum system to ensure So we have. The authorities we need to control the border. And I’m ready to act,” Biden told the mayor.

His comments represent the most optimistic note yet that progress on immigration — an issue that has dogged Biden throughout his presidency — may be imminent. The issue has spanned Congress and presidents—Democrats and Republicans—for decades.

The group of mayors was in Washington for the winter meeting of the US Conference of Mayors. At the event, several Texas mayors told CNN they were frustrated by the continued confrontation between the federal government and the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, over the issue, which they described as a true humanitarian crisis.

While migration from the US southern border has slowed in recent weeks, the number of migrants last year at times overwhelmed border cities. The rush led Abbott to take increasingly drastic measures. Among them, the installation of barbed wire along the border and the signing of legislation that makes illegal immigration a state crime, usurping typical federal authority over immigration regulations and enforcement.

Biden met with top congressional leaders on Wednesday to discuss the impact of drying up US funding in Ukraine on the Ukrainian battlefield.

On Friday, the president seemed optimistic that a deal could be reached soon, as did top congressional leaders from both parties.

“I think we should at least be able to resolve something in the Senate next week. And I hope that it will be a bipartisan package of senators that will pass it, God willing,” Biden said.

And he added that the question remains whether House Speaker Mike Johnson will agree to the package.

“Now the question for the president and House Republicans: Are they willing to act? They have to choose whether they want to fix a problem or continue to use this issue as a weapon to score political points against the president. “I Ready to solve the problem,” Biden said.