Senate border talks broaden to include Afghan evacuees, migrant work permits and high-skilled visas

Washington — While focused on plans to deter illegal border crossings, the ongoing immigration negotiations in the Senate have also included conversations about Afghan evacuees, the children of high-skilled visa-holders, and work permits for asylum-seekers, three people familiar with the talks told CBS News.

For weeks, the Biden administration and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Senate have been trying to strike a deal on a series of policies they hope will reduce unlawful border crossings, which have reached all-time highs over the past three years. Top Biden administration officials, led by White House deputy chief Natalie Quillian, have repeatedly met with Senate negotiators — Sens. James Lankford (R), Chris Murphy (D) and Kyrsten Sinema (I) — each week since mid-December.

Up until recently, the talks centered on tightening U.S. asylum laws, with negotiators focused on plans to allow border agents to swiftly expel migrants when a certain level in illegal crossings is reached, raise the standard to pass asylum interviews and expand expedited deportations of families traveling with children.