In Senate Border Talks, Parole Becomes GOP's 'Red Line'

Senate Republicans left a special conference meeting Wednesday with a warning for Democrats: Negotiations over the president’s authority to grant parole must be on the table — or else.

“If they’re not serious about this, we can’t be snookered into an agreement that this administration can weasel out of,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told reporters.

“I have zero confidence that we will have achieved much if we don’t limit the abuse of parole,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., added, referring to the executive authority to grant foreigners temporary authorization to reside in the U.S. for humanitarian or significant public benefit reasons.

Multiple members of the Senate GOP described parole as the conference’s “red line,” with Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska urging his Democratic colleagues to “take that seriously.”