As those living outside the Beltway know, there’s a migrant crisis in America. Cities and states around the country are straining to cope with continued arrivals of individuals and families seeking shelter, food, housing and education.

We’ve reached shelter capacity in Massachusetts, some migrants are staying in the state transportation building, and Gov. Maura Healey has sent up flares for federal and state funding to ease the burden.

For Democrats on Capitol Hill, everything’s fine.

According to The Hill, reports surfaced that a bipartisan group of lawmakers negotiating a foreign aid deal tentatively agreed to raise the legal standard for asylum claims and is considering cracking down on the humane parole of migrants into the United States. Some Senate Democrats are seeing red.

“As negotiations surrounding the supplemental aid package progress, we are concerned about reports of harmful changes to our asylum system that will potentially deny lifesaving humanitarian protection for vulnerable people, including children, and fail to deliver any meaningful improvement to the situation at the border,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Security and nine Democratic colleagues said in a joint statement.

“Using a one-time spending package to enact these unrelated permanent policy changes sets a dangerous precedent and risks assistance to our international partners,” they warned. The emergency foreign aid package would provide military assistance to Ukraine and Israel and humanitarian assistance to Gaza and Ukraine.

Republicans want immigration policy reforms be added to the package, which President Biden proposed should include billions of dollars to enhance security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Tacking riders on to bills is pretty much standard practice in D.C. – it’s egregious only to those opposed to the add-on policy.

And for Democrats, increased border security is something to oppose. Padilla and Co,. want changes to asylum policy paired with other immigration reforms that they would favor, such as creating more lawful pathways for permanent residency and citizenship for migrants.

Among those signing the statement were Massachusetts Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, who must have at least read about the migrant crisis in their own state. One would think that securing the border and raising the legal standard for asylum is a win for the Massachusetts.

The border security changes do not preclude immigration reform, what they will do is tap the brakes on the unprecedented influx of migrants into American cities and towns, hopefully giving some breathing room to leaders struggling to cope with it all.

“We cannot truly secure our border and help American communities without increasing lawful pathways for migration and legalizing long-time undocumented immigrants who put food on our tables, care for our elderly, and form the fabric of our communities,” the group of Democrats said.

Yes, you can.

Border security and immigration reform are not mutually exclusive. The country’s migrant crisis needs triage, and tightening up our porous border is an important first step.

Editorial cartoon by Chip Bok (Creators Syndicate)