STEPHEN GROVES

Stephen is a correspondent based in South Dakota.

FILE - A migrant walks along a road shadowed by the steel columns of the border wall separating Arizona and Mexico after crossing into the United States, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, near Lukeville, Ariz. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

A deal on US border policy is closer than it seems. Here’s how it is shaping up and what’s at stake

Amid grueling negotiations between senators and the White House, the contours of a bipartisan border security and immigration deal are beginning to take shape.

The Capitol is seen under a winter sky in Washington, Monday, Dec. 18, 2023, as White House and Senate negotiators are struggling to reach a U.S. border security deal that would unlock President Joe Biden's request for billions of dollars worth in military aid for Ukraine and national security. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Biden’s push for Ukraine aid stalls in Senate as negotiations over border restrictions drag on

President Joe Biden’s push to have Congress replenish wartime aid for Ukraine as part of a deal on border and immigration policy changes will almost certainly drag into next year.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Durham, N.H. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha)

Senate border security talks grind on as Trump invokes Nazi-era ‘blood’ rhetoric against immigrants

Time slipping, White House and Senate negotiators are struggling to reach a U.S. border security deal that would unlock President Joe Biden’s request for billions of dollars worth in military aid for Ukraine and national security.

FILE - Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions confirmation hearing on April 20, 2023, in Washington. Prominent Latinos in Congress looked on quietly, at first, privately raising concerns with the Biden administration over the direction of border security talks. Padilla was on the phone constantly with administration officials questioning why the Senate negotiations did not include any meaningful consideration of providing pathways to citizenship for long-time undocumented immigrants. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Latino Democrats shift from quiet concern to open opposition to Biden’s concessions in border talks

Prominent Democratic Latinos in Congress quietly raised concerns at first about negotiations between the Biden administration and a group of senators over border security and asylum restrictions.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Senators met earlier with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he issued a plea for Congress to break its deadlock and approve continued wartime funding for Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Congress departs without a deal on Ukraine aid and border security, but Senate will work next week

Congress is departing Washington without a deal to pass wartime support for Ukraine. But Senate negotiators and the President Joe Biden’s administration are still racing to wrap up a border security compromise to unlock the stalemate before the end of the year.

FILE - Asylum-seekers walk to a U.S. Border Patrol van after crossing the nearby border with Mexico, Tuesday Sept. 26, 2023, near Jacumba Hot Springs, Calif. Migrants continue to arrive to desert campsites along California's border with Mexico, as they await processing. Congress is discussing changes to the immigration system in exchange for providing money to Ukraine in its fight against Russia and Israel for the war with Hamas. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File)

Biden considers new border and asylum restrictions as he tries to reach Senate deal for Ukraine aid

Top Biden administration officials are trying to reach a last-minute deal for wartime aid for Ukraine by agreeing to Senate Republican demands to bolster U.S.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of N.Y.,, left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walk to a meeting at the Capitol, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

With Ukraine’s future at risk, Zelenskyy returns to D.C. — but not to a warm welcome

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Americans his country is fighting for “our freedom and yours” as he made an impassioned for Congress to approve more assistance to fight Russia’s invasion.

FILE - Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., speaks to media about Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. A deal to provide further U.S. assistance to Ukraine by year-end appears to be increasingly out of reach for President Joe Biden. Republicans are insisting on pairing the funding with changes to America’s immigration and border policies. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)

New US aid for Ukraine by year-end seems increasingly out of reach as GOP ties it to border security

A deal to provide further U.S. assistance to Ukraine by year-end appears to be increasingly out of reach for President Joe Biden.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on funding for Ukraine from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

As Ukraine aid falters in the Senate, Biden signals he’s willing to make a deal on border security

As Senate Republicans blocked the advance of tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance for Ukraine, President Joe Biden berated their tactics as “stunning” and dangerous.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., meets with reporters to discuss GOP efforts to investigate President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Speaker Johnson is insisting on sweeping border security changes in a deal for Ukraine aid

House Speaker Mike Johnson tells fellow Republicans that sweeping changes to U.S. border policy will be their “hill to die on” in negotiations over President Joe Biden’s nearly $106 billion package for the wars in Ukraine and Israel and other security needs.

FILE - The U.S. Supreme Court is seen at near sunset in Washington, on Oct. 18, 2018. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to authorize subpoenas for two prominent conservatives who arranged luxury travel and other benefits for Supreme Court justices, but Republicans planned to object to the legitimacy of the action. The panel’s Democratic chairman, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, pushed through the vote in the meeting's final moments Thursday after Republicans walked out of the meeting. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Senate Democrats authorize subpoenas in the Supreme Court ethics probe. GOP won’t back enforcement

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have voted to authorize subpoenas for two prominent conservatives who arranged luxury travel and other benefits for Supreme Court justices.

House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., speaks during the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree lighting ceremony on the West Front of the Capitol, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Congress is eying immigration limits as GOP demands border changes in swap for Biden overseas aid

Republican demands to stop the flow of migrants at the Mexico-U.S. border have left Congress scrambling.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., answers questions from reporters outside the Senate chamber, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. President Joe Biden's nearly $106 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other needs is sitting idle in Congress as Republicans are insisting on U.S.-Mexico border policy provisions in exchange for any new U.S. dollars for Ukraine in its fight against Russia. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Majority Leader Schumer warns that antisemitism is on the rise as he pushes for Israel aid

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is warning that antisemitism in the United States has reached levels unseen in generations and called on his fellow Democrats to clearly condemn it.

FILE - A group of people, including many from China, walk along the wall after crossing the border with Mexico to seek asylum, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, near Jacumba, Calif. As Congress returns this week, Senate Republicans have made it clear they won’t support additional war aid for Ukraine unless they can pair it with border security measures. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Republicans want to pair border security with aid for Ukraine. Here’s why that makes a deal so tough

Congress return to work this week after the holiday break, and Senate Republicans have made clear they won’t support additional war aid for Ukraine unless they can pair it with border security measures.

FILE - Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., talks with reporters after meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House, Oct. 31, 2023, in Washington. The Senate is heading for a vote on a temporary government funding package as lawmakers sought to keep the holiday season free from any suspense over a government shutdown. Senators were trying to speed forward on the funding package on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Congress approves temporary funding and pushes the fight over the federal budget into the new year

Congress has ended the threat of a government shutdown until after the holidays. The Senate gave final approval to a temporary government funding package Wednesday night and sent it to President Joe Biden for his signature.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., meets with reporters ahead of a crucial vote on a continuing resolution to keep the government funded at its current levels, a measure not heartily supported by the hard right wing of his party, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Without enough GOP support, Speaker Johnson had to rely on Democrats to avoid a government shutdown

New Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to reach across the aisle to Democrats when hard-right conservatives revolted against his plan to keep the government funded into the new year.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee on President Biden's supplemental funding request, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

House pushes off impeachment of Homeland Secretary Mayorkas for handling of southern border

The House has voted to push off a Republican effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a press conference with House Republicans and families of hostages being held in Gaza at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

House Republicans look to pass two-step package to avoid partial government shutdown

House Speaker Mike Johnson has unveiled his proposal to avoid a partial government shutdown next weekend by extending government funding for some agencies and programs until Jan. 19 and continuing funding for others until Feb. 2.

FILE - Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., shakes hands with Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., before Republicans try to elect Johnson to be the new House speaker, at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 25, 2023. Johnson is facing his first big test as he tries to win House Republican support for a short-term funding plan to avert a government shutdown. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

New Speaker Mike Johnson grasps for a funding plan with a government shutdown rapidly approaching

New House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing his first big test as he tries to win House Republican support for a short-term funding plan to avert a government shutdown.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a press conference with House Republicans and families of hostages being held in Gaza at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

Just 10 days before another government shutdown, Congress expands to-do list with Ukraine and border

There are just 10 days before another potential government shutdown. Congress faces a Nov. 17 deadline to fund the federal government but is no closer to resolving the standoff — and in fact is complicating matters.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, questions Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testifying before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing to examine the national security supplemental request, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Senate Republicans outline border security measures they want as a condition for aiding Ukraine

Senate Republicans have released a sweeping set of U.S. border security proposals as a condition for sending more aid to Ukraine, laying out a draft plan to resume construction on parts of the U.S.

FILE - Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., arrives as House Republicans hold a closed-door meeting to vote by secret ballot on their candidate for speaker of the House, at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

GOP Rep. Ken Buck plans to challenge his party’s direction under Trump as he leaves the House

Ken Buck has gained national prominence as a Republican congressman fed up with Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., listens as Republicans try to elect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., to be the new House speaker, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Rep. George Santos survives effort to expel him from the House. But he still faces an ethics report

Rep. George Santos has easily survived a vote to expel him from the House as most Republicans opted to withhold punishment as both his criminal trial and a House Ethics Committee investigation proceed.

FILE - Speaker-elect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., puts the gavel down before speaking at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

New Speaker Mike Johnson holds favor with conservatives. Can he unite the GOP where others failed?

New House Speaker Mike Johnson has inherited many of the same problems that bedeviled Republican leaders with far more experience.

Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., takes the oath to be the new House speaker from the Dean of the House Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Mike Johnson, a staunch Louisiana conservative, is elected House speaker as GOP moves past chaos

Republican congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana has been elected House speaker. Republicans eagerly gave Johnson the gavel on Wednesday by a vote of 220-209, with a few absences.

Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks after he was chosen as the Republicans latest nominee for House speaker at a Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for House speaker after Emmer’s withdrawal, desperate to end chaos

Republicans have chosen Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana as their latest nominee for House speaker. This comes hours after another Republican nominee, Rep.

Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., left, and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., right, arrive for the Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republicans are facing death threats as the election for speaker gets mired in personal feuds

An onslaught of pressure from the Republican Party base was intended to prod the GOP’s moderate and establishment members to support Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, House Judiciary chairman and staunch ally of Donald Trump, meets with reporters about his struggle to become speaker of the House, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Republicans drop Jim Jordan as their nominee for speaker, stumbling back to square one

Republicans have dropped Jim Jordan as their nominee for House speaker, setting them back to square one with no clear plan ahead.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, talks with Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and others as Republicans try to elect Jordan to be the new House speaker, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

GOP’s Jordan says he’s still running for House gavel, but plan for a temporary speaker falls flat

Refusing to drop out, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan is telling GOP colleagues he is still running for House speaker.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, right, confers with Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the temporary leader of the House of Representatives, as the House convenes for a second day of balloting to elect a speaker, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

GOP’s Jim Jordan fails again on vote for House speaker as frustrated Republicans search for options

Once a formality in Congress, the vote for House speaker has devolved into a bitter GOP showdown for the gavel with no foreseeable end.