Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said Wednesday that ideas floated as part of a potential deal between the White House and Republicans on immigration and asylum were non-starters for them.

The 42-member caucus would be a key group to get on board for House approval of any major immigration changes that Democrats would agree to in exchange for Republicans agreeing to allow another round of funding to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.

Republicans are pitting vulnerable groups against each other to strong-arm policies that will exacerbate chaos at the [U.S.] southern border, said Rep. Nanette Barragn (D-Calif.), the chair of the caucus, at an afternoon press conference.

Barragn said she was asking her Democratic colleagues in the Senate to hold the line against asylum- and immigration-related changes, as time is dwindling before lawmakers are set to leave Washington for the rest of the year.

They want to be able to get this now and any time we vote on something else or coordinate, or whatever it is, theyre going to ask for more and more and more, she said.

At issue is a $110.5 billion proposed aid package to provide weapons and other support for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region where Taiwan is located, as well as to give humanitarian aid to Gaza and boost spending on the U.S. border for faster processing and deportation of migrants.

But Republicans in the Senate have balked at the package, joining party hard-liners in the House, and demanded changes to toughen asylum policy as the price to pass it. The U.S. administration has said that previously approved aid to Ukraine will be exhausted by the end of the month and lawmakers, having endured a year high in chaos but low in substantive achievement, are itching to go home for the holidays.

The standoff has gone on for weeks in the Senate, even as Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) were supposed to be hashing out immigration changes that could be palatable to both sides. But with those talks failing to yield progress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting Washington this week to make an in-person plea, and Congress set to recess for the year, signs of movement have emerged in the past few days.

The White House has said that it was willing to talk about allowing asylum applicants to be expelled from the country quickly, effectively reviving a rule from the COVID-19 pandemic era referred to as Title 42, as well as an expansion of immigration detentions and deportations.

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said the willingness to talk was encouraging but not enough by itself to sway Republicans.

The mere fact theyre willing to do that is substantial. Now, we should put some meat around it and then test whether theyre serious or not about their offer, he said Wednesday.

You know, if the trigger is for 20,000 crossings, its dead on arrival. Were talking about what would be the triggering mechanism to detain and do expedited removal.

But the ideas that have been floated so far were rejected by Hispanic Democrats and their allies at Wednesdays press conference. Indeed, even if such a deal were able to get through the Senate, its fate would be very uncertain in a House where more than half of Republicans have voted against a relatively tiny $300 million Ukraine aid amendment and liberal Democrats would likely be opposed to harsh immigration changes.

Several Democrats at the press conference said they resented the prospect of being forced to choose between migrants and Ukrainians, who have retaken 50% of the land lost at the start of Russias February 2022 invasion.

We dont have to push one down to lift another up, said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.).

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) urged his fellow Democrats to not give in.

In doing so, you will be surrendering to right-wing racism, he said. More than that, you will be enabling it.

Igor Bobic contributed reporting to this story.