trying to seize power despite losing the 2020 election. the latest from david becker. it's all just ahead on "face the nation." ♪ good morning. welcome to "face the nation." we have a lot to get to on this new years a eve, but we want to begin with the dire situation at the southern border. new customs and border protection data obtained by cbs news show that agency is on track to process more than 300,000 migrants, an all-time monthly high. that includes record numbers of families and children. meanwhile, cities, states and federal law enforcement report being overwhelmed as the ripple effects spread from border

communities to all across the country. for the latest, we are joined by cbs immigration and politics reporter camilla montoya. you've done extraordinary reporting on this. can you tell us what is really driving the sharp increase and who is making up the majority of migrants? >> i think margaret, the more precise answers the push and pull factors have intensified to a degree i don't think we have ever seen in u.s. history. we have a relatively stable economy here with many job openings and that is driving a lot of migration. we also have an immigration system that is massively backlogged and cannot determine quickly who qualifies for asylum and does not. that also attracts migration. those are the pull factors. we have powerful push factors as well. the deteriorating political and economic conditions in venezuela, countries in africa and asia are driving record numbers of people to the u.s. this is truly an unprecedented

crisis of humanitarian proportions along the border. we have never seen this before. a quarter of a million migrants are processed each month at the u.s.-mexico border. >> breathtaking. this is a hemisphere wide crisis. >> that's right. >> the president sent the homeland security secretary, secretary of state to mexico to press mexico's president to help police that border. what did they achieve? >> i was told that u.s. officials asked mexican president andres manuel obrador to increase enforcement within the interior of mexico to stem the flow of migration further south at the guatemala-mexico border and divert migrants away from northern mexico and along the u.s. border. it illustrates the role that mexico plays in how we deal with this complex and vexing problem. we are relying on mexico, margaret, to do much of this border enforcement and immigration policy because they really are the key player in this debate. they have to accept the returns

of non-xens and that is a big task for the biden administration. >> we know that some of those ports have actually been shut down. >> for commercial and vehicle traffic which is a huge economic, yeah, consequence for mexico and the u.s., correct. >> exactly. this is beyond humanitarian crisis. we're at so many levels of complexity now. texas' governor has signed into law that hasn't yet taken effect, but it would in march. >> that's right. >> the ability for his state law enforcement to stop migrants and arrest them. texas has vowed they will fight this all the way to the supreme court, but the biden administration is going to take them on. >> this will be one of the most important legal clashes on immigration in 2024. the justice department has already told texas this law will undermine relations with mexico and prevent federal officials

from enforcing federal immigration laws, including u.s. asylum law which allows migrantses on u.s. soil to request asylum even if they enter illegally. this law not only allows texas to prosecute and jail migrants on actions that are already legal on federal grounds and statutes but allows state judges to issue deportation orders even though mexico said it will reject returns of migrants from the state of texas. the justice department has given texas until wednesday to say it will abandon plans to enforce this law as planned in march, but that is very unlikely to happen. texas i think will try to implement this law. we should expect a prolonged legal battle, margaret. >> potential development as soon as this wednesday. >> that's right. >> so that brings us back to what's happening here in washington or what's not happening, frankly, with lawmakers talking about trying to put together some piece of legislation. >> yes. >> to change immigration laws which haven't been updated in decades. >> since the 1990s.

>> right. >> and to put in the funding that president biden has asked them for. >> that's right. >> where are we in those negotiations. >> the white house is currently entertain something sweeping border restrictions, including an authority to expel migrants when border patrol is overwhelmed and to suspend asylum, just like the title 42 pandemic era policy that ended this year to convince republicans to get on board in terms of backing additional aid to ukraine. that would have been unthinkable three years ago and speaks to the situation we're in at the u.s.-mexico border. i think that these talks will intensify in january. they could very well collapse because we are dealing after all with immigration and congress has been desperately gridlocked on this issue for decades but there are two different factors here at play that could make this a different scenario. the white house wants aid to ukraine and it is under tremendous political pressure to do something new at the u.s.-mexico border. >> we'll follow your reporting and turn to one of those

negotiators involved in the talks. that is republican senator lindsey graham who is with us from seneca, south carolina. senator, welcome back to the program. >> thank you. >> you just heard laying out for you all the incredible things that are now being considered in this proposed deal that they seem significant. do you think thank you and the republicans involved in this negotiation can get the party to sign on? >> womenell, i hope so. we need to do it for ukraine and our own national is security. the threats to america are at all-time high from jihadist groups, a broken border, 300,000 people in december alone, up about 400% from 2020. here's the key i think. we're asking the administration to use title 42 type authority to tell people we're full. it takes four years to get your asylum claim heard.

we have 1.7 million ready to be deported but they won't deport them. we need to send some people out of the country to stop the inflow, but title 42 authority in the hands of any administration willing to use it would stop this. whether you come to our border we say i'm sorry, we're full. >> at what number would you institute this? this would allow for the expulsion of migrants without an asylum hearing? >> i'm sorry. >> okay. here's what -- yes. okay. we turn people back because of covid. we have a pandemic in the country. our system is broken. you're going to have mayors talking about more money to help relocate migrants. we're not going to have a remain in texas policy. i don't know if abbott will win in court having a state law to deal with this or not, but he's a desperate man trying to protect his state. to the mayors, call up the white house and say we're republicans, to change asylum, change parole, but implement a title 42

authority to that would stop the inflow. we're full, don't come. >> we'll talk to the mayors about that. they are asking the biden administration for help. are you suggesting here there isn't yet agreement on expulsion authority in your group of negotiators? >> there is -- there is -- i am telling you right now, expedited removal is on the table. they want more exceptions to make the rule almost meaningless. we're having to pull teeth to change policy. this is not a regular migration. that's a bunch of b.s. this is a predictable outcome of bad policy choices made right after biden became president. we all said if you do away with remain in mexico you will have a run on the border. bad choices led to this. >> complicated with the mexican government too -- >> no. it's not complicated. >> well, in the past -- >> it's not complicated. >> you suggested in interviews that parole was a sticking point, specifically. that part of the policy -- >> it still is. >> is it a deal breaker for you? what do you want to change?

>> well, under our law, you're supposed to parole people on an individual basis. they're using humanitarian parole, a concept not in law, to parole people at 145,000 a clip. i want to go back to the original intent of the law. i don't want to do anything dramatic. i want to enforce the law. the asylum laws are being abused and laz chick them. title 42 authority needs to be applied here on the concept that america is full. if you have to wait four years for an asylum hearing slow down the asylum system. 1.7 million are ready to be deported. deport them before we let new people in. >> you are not asking for what the house was demanding, this bill known as h.r. 2. >> h.r. 2, right. >> have you been talking at all to speaker johnson about what he would be willing to put on the floor? >> yes. >> what is he willing to do? >> yes. we need policy changes that address the pull factors. there's nothing irregular going on in the world. this was created by policy

choices that created new pull factors. asylum form, limitations on parole, reinvoking title 42 i think would be enough to get it through the house. the policy changes have to be real. we have to start deporting people to slow down the inflow. if you see people leaving the country, people are less likely to show up at the border. i'm urging the biden administration, when trump gets to be president f he does, if you're here illegally you're going to be deported. there's going to be mass deportation under donald trump of people here in violation of the law who have received a final order of deportation. they're going it be going. >> well, i'm -- some of those have restarted in terms of venezuela. there are a lot of complicating diplomatic factors here with some of the countries you're talking about. i want to make sure i ask you about the connection here to ukraine. you've seen this incredible attack. >> yeah. >> by russia on kyiv. the most significant missile attacks since this war has begun, and it happens days after

the united states sends the last shipment of aid for 2023. do you see a connection and when will ukraine aid get through the senate? >> it will be a package. i want to help israel. they're under siege. i'm not objecting to secretary blinken sending them weapons as an emergency declaration. i think it makes sense. ukraine, i want to help desperately, but we got to help ourselves. i cannot come back to south carolina and talk about giving aid to ukraine and israel if the border is still broken. it is not broken. it's in chaos. i cannot tell you the humanitarian problems people are suffering due to this immigration, but our national security is very much at risk, so ukraine aid has to be tied to border. >> right. but we're still not there on border, so both seem very much -- >> right. >> at risk right now? >> yeah. here's what i would tell the biden administration. accept the idea that we're full. give us -- take the tools we're

willing to give you to stop the inflow. start deporting people here who should be, you know, deported. then you'll turn things around pretty quickly. to the biden administration, accept the tools that would change things and get money for ukraine. >> i want to make sure that you are on the judiciary committee, i ask you about what is happening for the pressure for the supreme court potentially to take on some of these cases involving the election. you said back in 2021 after the senate impeachment trial, you said, of donald trump, the president's conduct is subject to the law of the land. if you believe he committed a crime, he could still be prosecuted after he's out of office. do you stand by that statement that mr. trump could be prosecuted and criminally liable? >> yeah. it depends on what conduct is. if you're doing your job as president, january 6th he was still president trying to find out if the election, you know,

was on the up and up, i think his immunity claim, i don't know how it will bear out, but i think it's a legitimate claim. but they're prosecuting him for activity around january 6th. he didn't break into the capitol. he gave a fiery speech, but he's not the first guy to ever do that. at the end of the day, i think this case will not go to trial before the election. i think there are more legal issues around this than you can imagine about what can a president do as president, what are the limitations of being president? >> to be clear, you do not believe that a president should be immune from prosecution if he committed a felony? >> well, it depends on -- right. i mean nobody is immune from the law, but you have presidential immunity to do your job. i have immunity to do my job under the speech and debate clause. that's what the legal issue is. this went before the nation through impeachment. he got acquitted. i think january 6th is baked into the cake.

i think the jack smith cases are not changing the political outcome. at the end of the day donald trump is in a good position to win the republican primary because republicans believe he had a good presidency and i think he can win the general election. all these -- like in maine, knocking him off the ballot the secretary of state in maine is a pretty radical person. she said the electoral college was a product of white supremacy. civil war was about slavery. the electoral college was about negotiation between small and large states. >> all this will go to the courts as you're laying out there. >> right. it will. >> ahead with david becker our election law expert. senator graham, good to have you with us. "face the nation" will be back in a moment. stay with us.

for more on immigration, we turn to chicago's brandon johnson and denver's mike johnston. welcome to "face the nation."

>> good morning. >> thank you for having us. >> thanks for joining us. and mr. mayor of chicago, i want to put to you a question about what seems to have developed overnight. there are reports of a plane from texas landing in chicago carrying more migrants that arrived around 1:00 a.m. i'm wondering if texas officials gave you any head's up, who is on the plane, what happens next? >> well, what we have is clearly an international and federal crisis that local governments are being asked to subsidize, and this is unsustainable. none of our local economies are positioned to be able to carry on such a mission. what we've tempted to do is to create structure and coordination around this humanitarian crisis, and unfortunately, the governor of texas, governor abbott, is

determined to continue to sow seeds of chaos and last night and several nights before, a number of busses continue to arrive in the city of chicago throughout the country without any coordination and now he's taking on this very dangerous task of placing individuals on airplanes and flying them in to our various cities. this is certainly a matter of not just of our national security, but it's the type of chaos that this governor is committed to administering. >> mr. mayor, mr. mayor of denver to be clear here, i know that you have looked at new york and chicago making decisions to restrict bus arrivals. are you trying to take measures in your city to restrict them from even arriving in the first place? >>no. all we want is a system that is -- that is humanitarian for both the new folks that are arriving and for our cities and

city employees. we understand there will be an inflow. we have had 35,000 migrants arrive to denver and successfully helped them integrate into the country here. what we don't want is people arriving at 2:00 in the morning at a city and county building with women and children outside in 10 degree weather and no support. we want buss to do what every other bus does, land at a bus station and stop in hours where we can have staff to receive them and to direct them towards services and so we understand the flow is coming. we want it to be coordinated and in a humanitarian way which makes it effective for the city and the newcomers. that means things like arriving 8:00 to 5:00, monday to friday with notice. >> right. and i understand that you haven't been able to get the state of texas to stop sending people, but when it comes to your party's leadership as senator graham said, you have asked the white house for more help. did they respond? to your public call? >> yeah. we've talked to the white house and we've talked to leadership there and we think they agree on the core needs we see.

we think this is a solvable problem. there are key priorities we needp with. we need federal dollars to support our work and federal dollars for more support at the border, the ability to adjudicate asylum claims more quickly to be done in 90 days and not four to six years. that makes a difference. if we have resources to support us, we have when people arrive we have work authorization when they get to a place like denver to put them to work which is what they want and a coordinated entry plan where it's not just the governor of texas deciding what cities to send people but the way we welcomed aslummies for years. we had federal support, coordinated entru, work au authorization and those worked smoothly. we think we can do it here. >> those are different programs for those refugees, but i hear your point on the work authorization. mayor johnston of chicago, did the white house give you what you need? >> i think there's no secret

here that we need comprehensive immigration reform. this comprehensive immigration reform would certainly transform this situation. in fact, it solves this crisis. what we have said repeatedly is that we need congress to act to provide the resources that are needed in order to carry out this mission. but what we can't have is a governor in the state of texas acting the way he's acting. quite frankly, the rogue busses being dropped off across this country in the middle of the night leaving people with no real support at all, no coordination with the local municipalities, that type of chaos is certainly dividing our country and we need better coordination between all levels of government to be able to respond to this mission. >> when you reach out to the governor, i'm assuming you have, do you get any response? >> well, we sent an entire delegation to the border to see

firsthand what's happening at the border. i've spoken with leaders of the mexican government. they're having the same challenges that we're having in america. there has to be a real coordinated effort to be able to respond to this crisis. again, putting people on airplanes, dropping them off in the city of chicago in denver and new york without any coordination, without a manifest, i don't know how many federal laws or aviation laws he could be violating, but this type of chaos is not what's needed in this moment. we need a coordinated effort between all levels of government to ensure that this humanitarian mission that's an international crisis is met with the type of civility and sanctity that's required. >> understood. i checked the weather in both of your cities. it's 32 degrees in chicago. it's 25 degrees in denver. i'm guessing someone walking across from mexico isn't outfitted for that kind of frigid arrival.

>> yeah. >> we see that every day. we have folks arrive in t-shirts and sandals. >> yeah. >> i want to talk about this more, but i have to take a commercial break. if you would both stay with us. as we do that, i'll be right back with you and back with you all in a moment. stay with us. hi, i'm stacey, and i've lost 60 pounds on golo. (guitar music) i was surprised with the golo plan, i was not hungry. thanks to release, i don't feel the need to go for snacks or go back for seconds. give golo a try. this plan works.

tune in to "face the nation" next sunday for an interview with house speaker mike johnson. we'll travel to the border to speak with him, getting his thoughts on immigration reform and the rest of the agenda in washington as congress begins a new year. we'll be back in a moment. ] at t leaving the house was hard. - [speaker] but wounded warrior project helps you realize it's possible to get out there - [speaker] to feel sense of camaraderie again. - [speaker] to find the tools to live life better. - [narrator] through generous community support, we've connected warriors and their families with no cost physical and mental health services, legislative advocacy, career assistance, and life skill training for 20 years, and we are just getting started.

i got this $1,000 camera for only $41 on dealdash. dealdash.com, online auctions since 2009. this playstation 5 sold for only 50 cents. this ipad pro sold for less than $34. and this nintendo switch, sold for less than $20. i got this kitchenaid stand mixer for only $56. i got this bbq smoker for 26 bucks. and shipping is always free. go to dealdash.com right now and see how much you can save.

>> we'll be right back with the mayors of denver and chicago and our election law expert david becker. back in a moment.

welcome back to "face the nation." we pick up where we left off with denver mayor mike johnston and chicago mayor brandon johnson. gentlemen, i want to pick back up on one of the points you raised. mr. johnso of denver, the white house says it takes 30 days to

process work permits and temporary protected status for some of these migrants. you're saying you need people to arrive ready to work. what happens in that 30-day period? why is that not fast enough? >> yeah. we were grateful for the government's action including the secretary's action to provide protective status for venezuelans who arrived before july 31st. that was a help. the challenge is venezuelans who have arrived in the last several months are not eligible for that temporary protected status. they don't have a path to work authorization and an asylum claim that is three or four or five years in the waiting until the claim is heard and the challenge on our city streets folks whenever i talk to migrants, i was with them yesterday, say i want one thing, the ability to work. and we have employers calling me saying, mayor, i have open jobs, can i hire these folks. we have folks right now that are currently without a path to work authorization. we would love to see that path to work authorization expand for

recent arrivals the same way the secretary did for those that arrived before july 31st. >> that was done through authority through the administration. but changing the law would require congress to alter some of these programs. i thought it was interesting, mayor johnson of chicago you made the point when it came to afghanistan and ukrainians it was without a problem and you would like to replicate that program for everyone. >> that's right. there are 30,000 ukranian refugees in the city of chicago right now. the difference is they were fully supported by the federal government and they were able to acclimate themselves and integrate into our economy. we have a number of asylum seekers from central and south america and the continent of africa and the question is, why are we not providing that same support and treatment here? look, the bottom line is we need congress to act. we need them to do it

expeditiously. we cannot have the chaos that continues to come from the state of texas. clearly the governor of texas, governor abbott, is certainly afraid and mad, but he can't cut his own nose off. what we're saying and i've done over month ago, we provided an ordinance that would provide some structure and coordination around when busses should arrive. should not be dropping people off in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere without the support that's needed. >> before i let you to, i read, mayor johnson of chicago, a 5-year-old boy died after falling ill at a migrant shelter in your city. what state are people showing up in? what is the health risk here, if any? >> well, our condolences are still with the family and we continue to pray for the family who lost their child. i'm a father of three. this is just an unimaginable