Congress likely will finalize a military aid package for Israel and Ukraine that contains major changes to the United States' immigration system by the end of the year, and that's not just something Republicans want, Sen. James Lankford said Sunday.
"When the administration put out their national security package, they asked for funding for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and the border," the Oklahoma Republican said on ABC's "This Week." "Two days later after they put that proposal out, they also put out a piece saying that the border-funding element would be — this was their term — 'a tourniquet.'"
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also has called for reform in the asylum system, said Lankford.
"Those are his words," he said. "We need to change the way that we're doing this. And he's made the statement over and over again that if you delay consequences for individuals that come across the border, it is no consequence ... They've made it very clear they're looking for changes in policies so we can actually secure the border."
That means Congress will need to bring a proposal that will make a difference and reform asylum from top to bottom, so "we're not just mass-releasing thousands of people," said Lankford.
"Last week, we had more than 9,000 people a day that crossed our border," he added. "Those are epically high numbers that continue to accelerate ... It looks like November will be the highest ever in the history of the country. This continues to spiral out of control."
Lankford told show host George Stephanopoulos that he will not support overseas aid without substantial border legislation.
"There's a reason that this hasn't been done in decades: because it's hard," he said. "It's very technical work, and there's a lot of challenges that are in it. Anytime you deal with border security, there are a lot of complicating features in this. ... But the most important thing is to be able to get this right."
Further, people want there to be a "legal, ordinary process" for immigrants and "not the chaos that we currently have on our southern border," said Lankford. "That shouldn't be too tall of an order to be able to fulfill."