美国移民制度的重大变化将成为对以色列和乌克兰军事援助的一部分共和党俄克拉荷马州参议员詹姆斯·兰克福德(James Lankford)周日预测，国会将在年底前最终确定这一计划。
“我们必须切实提出一项提案，切实做出改变，切实改革我们处理庇护的方式...从上到下，我们实际上可以处理我们实际上如何处理所有这些人的过程，”领导共和党参议员就边界问题进行谈判的兰克福德告诉美国广播公司“本周”主播乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯。
拜登政府已经提议为以色列和乌克兰各自的战争拨款数百亿美元，并为边境安全拨款140亿美元。但在南部边境移民人数持续居高不下的情况下，共和党议员表示，这些资金必须与政策变化挂钩，如庇护系统。
当Stephanopoulos追问他是否会在没有实质性边境立法的情况下支持海外援助时，Lankford回答说:“不，我们会一起做这件事。”
“几十年来没有这样做是有原因的，因为这很难。这是一项技术性很强的工作，其中有很多挑战。任何时候你处理边境安全问题，都会有很多复杂的特点。...但最重要的是能够把这件事做好，”兰克福德说。
“人们想要一个合法、有序的过程，而不是我们目前在南部边境面临的混乱，”他说，并补充道，“这应该不是一个难以实现的高要求。”
兰克福德引用了一些在南部边境遇到的移民的破纪录统计数据。
“这继续失控，”他说。
2023年5月11日，在DC首都华盛顿的新闻发布会上，参议员詹姆斯·兰克福德(右)就边境安全和第42条发表讲话。
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images，文件
同样出现在“本周”节目中的白宫发言人约翰·柯比说，国会“基本上忽视了”乔·拜登总统先前的移民改革计划。
他重申政府希望大约1000亿美元的资金需求立即解决。
Kirby说，“如果他们对移民改革是认真的，他们应该接受总统的提议。”
斯特凡诺普洛斯多次单独向兰克福德施压，要求他在2024年大选中是否支持前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)，如果特朗普是共和党提名人的话——鉴于特朗普的众多法律问题和争议，包括对上次总统竞选的毫无根据的攻击，并建议部分宪法应该结束。
“这不是我做的决定，而是美国人民真正做的决定，”兰克福德最初说。
斯特凡诺普洛斯再次问他，他说，“我已经置身事外。同样，将会有共和党选民和美国人民做出这个决定。”
当斯特凡诺普洛斯跟进寻找答案时，兰克福德表示，他最终会支持特朗普，而不是民主党总统乔·拜登。
“如果他最终获得提名，而我要在唐纳德·特朗普和拜登之间做出选择，我要在两套不同的政策中做出选择....这不是一个艰难的选择，”他说。
斯特凡诺普洛斯问，如果特朗普被判犯有他目前面临的91项重罪中的一项，兰克福德是否会支持特朗普。(特朗普否认有不当行为。)
“我们还有很长的路要走，乔治...我明白，在这个过程中，在被证明有罪之前，每个人都是无辜的，”兰克福德说。
Immigration changes will be part of military aid package for Israel and Ukraine: Lankford
Major changes to America's immigration systemwill be part of a military aid package for Israel and Ukrainethat will be finalized in Congress by year's end, Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford predicted on Sunday.
"We've got to actually bring a proposal forward that will actually make that difference, that could actually reform how we handle asylum ... from top to bottom, that we can actually handle how we're actually handling the process of all those individuals," Lankford, who is leading GOP senators in negotiations on the border, told ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos.
The Biden administration has proposed tens of billions of dollars for Israel and Ukraine in their respective wars as well as $14 billion for border security. But amid continued high immigration numbers at the southern border, GOP lawmakers have said those funds must be tied to policy changes like with the asylum system.
When pressed by Stephanopoulos if he would support overseas aid without substantial border legislation also included, Lankford replied, "No. We're going to do this all together."
"There's a reason that this hasn't been done in decades, because it's hard. It's very technical work, and there's a lot of challenges that are in it. And any time 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," Lankford said.
"People want a legal, orderly process, not the chaos that we currently have on our southern border," he argued, adding, "That shouldn't be too tall of an order to be able to fulfill."
Lankford cited some of the record-breaking statistics for migrants encountered at the southern border.
"This continues to spiral out of control," he said.
White House spokesman John Kirby, also appearing on "This Week," said that Congress had "basically ignored" President Joe Biden's previous immigration reform plan.
He reitarerated that the administration wants itsroughly $100 billion funding requestaddressed immediately.
And, Kirby said, "If they're serious about immigration reform, they ought to take that proposal up by the president."
Lankford was separately pressed multiple times by Stephanopoulos on whether he will support former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, if Trump is the Republican nominee -- given Trump's numerous legal issues and controversies, including baseless attacks on the last presidential race and suggesting parts of the Constitution should be ended.
"That's not going to be me making that decision, that's going to be the American people that actually make that decision," Lankford initially said.
Asked again by Stephanopoulos, he said, "I've stayed out of this. Again, there's gonna be Republican voters and the American people that are going to make that decision."
When Stephanopoulos followed up for an answer, Lankford indicated that he would ultimately back Trump over Democratic President Joe Biden.
"If he ends up being the nominee, and I've got a choice between Donald Trump and Biden, I've got a choice between two different sets of policies .... That is not a hard choice," he said.
Stephanopoulos asked if Lankford would support Trump if Trump were convicted of one of the 91 felony counts that he is currently facing. (Trump denies wrongdoing.)
"We have a long way to go on that, George ... I understand that everyone is innocent until proven guilty in this process," Lankford said.
