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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden wants to make Republicans pay for their decision to cut a border security plan that Republicans first requested.
Poll after poll shows voters view Democrats in general, and Biden in particular, as weak on immigration and security at the U.S.-Mexico border. With the number of migrants crossing the border reaching record highs last year, Republicans in Congress appeared poised to take advantage of the situation.
They withheld funding from Russia to defend Ukraine in exchange for tighter border restrictions. They thought the president was cornered.
But in a stunning policy shift, the White House and Senate Democrats conceded and agreed to the most sweeping changes to immigration law in a generation.
And this week, Republicans, at Donald Trump’s urging, scrapped a bipartisan border deal that had been four months in the making.
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Biden is now moving from defense to offense, hoping to turn that legislative failure into a victory in his re-election campaign.
“Every day from now until November, the American people will learn that the only reason our border is unsafe is because of Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” Biden said in remarks from the White House on Tuesday. It will happen,” he said.
Biden’s campaign and Democratic allies missed an opportunity to resolve what Trump has long described as a national crisis, while independent voters say Biden is willing to reach a compromise across the aisle. I hope you understand.
“I don’t think this just neutralizes the (border) issue,” said Matt Barreto, a Democratic pollster who advised Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign on Latino issues. “I believe that by truly criticizing the issue, we are taking control of the issue.” “He’s telling me he’s ready to act. Now Republicans are on the defensive. They have to explain why they don’t want to take action on the border. And so far, I’ve heard no sound rationale. I haven’t.”
Biden says collapse of border deal will ‘hold countries accountable’
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, has long pushed hard-line border policies, promising to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and now calling for mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
Republicans, who have long criticized Democrats on border security, are viewed overwhelmingly favorably on the issue. An NBC poll this week found more voters, 57% to 22%, say they see Trump as a better candidate than Biden on border security and immigration control.
During negotiations on the $118 billion bill, most of which went to Ukraine and Israel, Biden embraced new, tougher rhetoric on border issues. He called on Congress to give him the power to “close the border” to deal with what he has begun to call a “border crisis.” He acknowledged that the border is not secure.
After the bill’s defeat, Biden said, “I never thought we would see what we’re seeing now.” Addressing his supporters at a New York fundraiser on Wednesday, he accused Congressional Republicans of “walking away because Donald Trump is calling them and threatening them.”
Republican senator says it’s a political impersonation of the Democratic Party
Republicans were quick to point out the record numbers of migrants that have occurred during Biden’s presidency and ridiculed Biden’s finger-pointing across the border. Congressional Republicans opposed the bill, arguing it didn’t go far enough and pushing for passage of HR2, the tougher immigration bill the Republican-controlled House approved last year.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told reporters: “Please understand that this border crisis is intentional. Joe Biden caused it. “The purpose of the bipartisan border bill was to create a political crisis,” he said. It’s camouflage for the Democratic Party running in November. ”
Cruz said the bill was not intended to secure the border, but rather to “tell every Democrat running for office to say, ‘Oh, I wanted to secure the border, but Republicans won’t let me do that. It’s something that makes you say, ‘That’s true.’
“This is all about making a talking point to deceive voters,” Cruz said. “That’s a complete lie.”
But Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), who helped lead negotiations in the Senate, emphasized Biden’s main points. In other words, electoral politics and Trump’s desire to deny Biden’s victory are blocking the progress of a long-debated conspiracy theory. .
In a speech on the Senate floor, Lankford said he heard fellow conservatives saying, “This is the wrong time to fix this problem,” or, “Let’s let the presidential election fix this problem.” Stated.
“In fact, one popular commentator I spoke to four weeks ago, before he knew anything about the bill, flatly said… ‘If we’re going to pass a bill to solve the border crisis in the year of the president.’ , I will do everything I can to destroy you,” Lankford said. “By the way, they were true to their word.”
Biden’s border operations risk upsetting some on base
Immigration is now the third most important issue for voters, after preserving democracy and inflation, according to a National Public Radio/Marist College poll this week. Only 29% of people approve of Biden’s handling of immigration issues, while 60% disapprove. By a 41% to 29% margin, voters said Republicans are doing better than Democrats on immigration.
“I know most Democrats think the failure of this bill will hurt the Republicans, but I don’t think that’s the case,” said former House of Representatives Joe Walsh, an outspoken critic of President Trump. Rep. (R-Ill.) posted on X, formerly Twitter. “The polls on the border are solid. Trump is an agitator and an insurrectionist, but voters overwhelmingly believe Trump is better on the border than Biden. “Because we’ve been ignoring borders for years. And I don’t think what’s happening now is going to change.” “
Mr. Biden also faces risks by running a campaign calling for stronger border security, and such rhetoric, along with immigration advocates and some Latino voters, has led to strong criticism of Israel in its war with Gaza. That could turn off progressive voters already swayed by his unwavering support for the Democratic Party.
National Immigration Attorney Kika Matos said: “It’s frankly appalling that he has turned to the far right in hopes that his tough political approach to immigration will yield some results.” I think so,” he said. center. “What he’s offering is deterrence. And we know deterrence doesn’t work. We know that because Mr. Trump tried it.”
“I find it puzzling and disturbing that he is trying to alienate his constituents, including immigrants and Latinos,” Matos said.
But Barrett, who oversaw Hispanic surveys and focus groups for the 2020 Biden campaign, said that unlike Trump, Biden is “not advocating mean-spirited, mean-spirited policies,” so the chances of a backlash are minimal. He said he believed that.
“Few people in the United States, including Latino voters, oppose well-managed and well-funded border security,” Barrett said, adding that stricter measures like razor blades and tear gas at the border He said he opposes immigration, but supports “fair and orderly” immigration. .
Barreto said the longer Republicans oppose the proposed border measure, the more it will become a winning issue for Biden. And if Congress ultimately passes a border deal, Biden will get credit for pushing it through, he said.
“I think this is really smart,” Barrett said. “As the polls roll in, if he continues his message of reminding Americans that he’s ready for a deal, that he’s ready for action, Republicans look like the underdogs on this issue. I think he is deaf.”
Contact Joey Garrison at X (formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison).
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