Joe Biden ran for president in 2020 on the notion that Trump’s immigration policies were “moral failures and a national disgrace.” Now he is supporting a border deal so aligned to conservative goals that it makes people gleeful: “[We] would never get [these] measures in a Republican Senate,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. Recently, he gushed.
[[{“value”:”Joe Biden ran his campaign in 2020 on the grounds that immigration policies during the Trump administration were” a social failure and a regional shame.” Sen. John Thune (R-S. D. ) recently gushed,” [W] e would never get]these measures ] in a Republican Senate,” and he is now supporting — and this is so in line with conservative goals that it makes people happy.
With extraordinary numbers of migrants arriving in the southwest and political pressure, Biden has taken a dramatic U-turn. He just vowed to close the border and is now in favor of what would be the most onerous reform of the immigration system in many years.
Biden set ambitious objectives as a candidate in 2020. According to the Washington Post at the time, his proposed policies were very similar to a “wish list” for proponents of expat rights. We were informed that the candidate Biden, who had an empath at heart, positioned himself as the ideal leader to reinstate a” honest and compassionate immigration system” and reclaim” America’s social leadership.” The “unrelenting assault on our values” that past president Donald Trump introduced—the intentional division of immigrant families, the detention of children, and the widespread raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement—were to be stopped, according to his campaign website.
The president, however, started pleading with Congress last month to approve a border agreement, which includes concessions that immigration advocates have criticized as “unconscionable,” as part of the ongoing bipartisan Senate negotiations related to the White House’s request for regional security funding for aid to Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine. Democrats have long pushed for the legalization of illegal immigrants in any legislation advancing border enforcement, but the agreement is a departure from that commitment.
At a social gathering in South Carolina, Biden declared,” If given the power, I’d shut down the border right then and fix it fast.” His new commitment to immigration is clear. Additionally, the immigration page on the campaign website that demanded spiritual leadership is now clear. ( It includes laser-eyed Biden, the phrase” You found Dark Brandon,” and a call to purchase t-shirts. )
We’ve come to an agreement on a nonpartisan agreement that includes the strictest and most equitable set of border reforms in recent memory. Additionally, it aids Israel and Ukraine and offers the Arab people humanitarian aid.
I implore Congress to swiftly pass this legislation. pic. jGuiDDxIO9 on twitter.com
President Biden ( @POTUS) February 5, 2024
The late announced republican immigration agreement is at the heart of Biden’s 2024 pitch. Chris Murphy (D-Conn ), James Lankford (R-Okla ), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz ) are the leaders of the contentious$ 118 billion deal, which is far from a compromise.
If passed, the law would establish a new expulsion authority that would permit the Department of Homeland Security ( DHS) to temporarily revoke access to asylum outside of ports of entry when the number of migrants encountered each week averaged 4, 000. The bill’s text states that” the [DHS] Secretary has the authority to prohibit the entry into the US of all individuals, except unaccompanied minors, between ports of entry,” when the use of the emergency authority is authorized. When that number increased to a normal average of 5, 000 over seven days or 8, 500 in one day, it would result in necessary expulsions. ( Border officials would still need to process a minimum of 1, 400 asylum seekers each day at ports of entry when using that emergency authority. ) The right of asylum seekers to seek protection on US soil or at the border is guaranteed by existing US law.
Another provisions include raising the bar for first asylum screenings and increasing the capacity for accelerated removal and detention. The comprehensive bill would also grant available asylum seekers expedited work authorization, allot an additional 50, 000 family and employment-based visas per year for five years, provide legal counsel to alone minors in deportation proceedings, and open the door to citizenship for Afghan nationals who had been evacuated to the US. Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Senate Majority, has stated that the bill will go through an original vote by Wednesday.
President Biden stated in a statement on Sunday that” House Republicans then have to decide.” ” Do they want to find a solution to the issue?” Or do they intend to continue using the border for political purposes? I’ve already made up my mind. I’m prepared to address the issue. I’m prepared to protect the border.
Democratic hypocrisy has been a major topic of discussion in the deal. Republicans appear reluctant to support perhaps a hardline bill after months of negotiations. This is largely due to Donald Trump’s claim that it would n’t go far enough to realize his radical vision. Trump has also expressed concern that it will undermine his nativist campaign. The former president added that the bill would “make Republicans look bad” in a post on Truth Social,” A bad border deal is far worse than no border agreement.”
Republicans are in a “quandary” due to Trump’s opposition to the border deal, according to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky. ). Speaker of the House Mike Johnson ( R- La. ) has already deemed the agreement “dead on arrival” in the Republican-controlled House, stating that any border closure authority that permits yet one illegal crossing is non-starting.
I’ve had enough of this. The border catastrophe the President has sparked will not be resolved by this bill, which is even worse than we anticipated. According to the top Democratic negotiator,” the border always closes” under this legislation.
If this bill makes it to the House, it will be…
— February 5, 2024, Speaker Mike Johnson ( @SpeakerJohnson )
However, Biden’s embrace of the deal is telling even if it were to fail. It has gotten harder and harder to reconcile Joe Biden, the president who said he” shut down the border,” with the candidate who called Barack Obama’s record deportations a “big mistake” and referred to immigrants as gifts rather than burdens. One of Biden’s main messages to the American people during what feels like a lifetime ago—the 2020 presidential campaign—was that he was n’t Donald Trump on immigration.
In his first 100 days, Biden vowed to reverse the “zero tolerance” and Live in Mexico policies, loosen restrictions on the resettlement of refugees and asylum seekers, put an end to for-profit immigration detention, and stop the construction of the border wall. He established a family reunification task force for children separated from their parents and legal guardians at the border in early 2021 and revoked the biased travel ban on travelers from Muslim-majority countries. Biden discussed getting rid of the” stain on our reputation for what the separations have caused” when he signed an executive order.
It was a time when advocates and allies who were immigrants felt hopeful.
One of Biden’s primary steps was to suggest complete legislation that would combine improved border enforcement with opportunities for illegal immigrants to become citizens, including the Dreamers who were constantly in danger and were living in legal limbo. ( Republican opposition to what they called “mass amnesty” prevented that bill from ever seeing the light of day. ) Additionally, Biden suggested a 100-day temporary pause on the deportations of immigrants who had now arrived in the country. ( That policy change was overturned once more, this time in court. )
A former White House official who asked to speak on the background to discuss issues openly told me that the president’s ambitions” started to slowly dissipate to the realities of the logistics and the challenges of those logistics,” making it difficult to maintain the momentum.
The New York Times accurately captured the difficulties the administration is facing in a recent story with the headline” How the Border Crisis Shattered Biden’s Immigration Hopes,” many of which have certainly been outside of their control. A new international migration era that forced an unprecedented number of migrants from around the world to seek refuge in the United States, compounded crises in Central and South American nations, and Republican’s determination to weaponize and feed the issue for democratic gain—including by using asylum seekers as pawns to discredit Democrats—were among them.
The administration seemed to change as the perception of the issue of immigration as a social liability grew more ingrained—partially due to media coverage. Biden started pleading with migrants to stay away from the border. Through an expanded Title 42 from the Trump era, the administration made the decision to promptly expel immigrants and implemented policies that were reminiscent of Trump’s presidency and made it more difficult to obtain asylum.
Vanessa Cárdenas, senior director of America’s Voice and regional coalitions director for the Biden campaign, told me a few months ago,” It is very disappointing to see how things are turning in terms of where this administration is when it comes to policy.” The biggest thing is simply a large missed chance to truly convey to Americans what our immigration system ought to look like.
Some would argue that despite all of the administrative actions President Biden has taken regarding immigration, he was unable to sell it to the public, and his” carrot and stick” strategy failed to appease both pro- and anti-immigrant hardliners.
Immigrant rights activists hoped Biden would focus proudly on pro-immigration messages and policies rather than caving in to Republican’s dramatic cries of “open borders” and “invasion.” Alternatively, some people started to wonder if Biden’s policies were really that dissimilar from Trumps ‘. The contrast is never as clear as it could be, as Democratic strategist and CNN commentator Maria Cardona noted at the conclusion of the day. In the middle, it appears that Biden has not pleased anyone.
Jonathan Blitzer of the New Yorker notes in his most recent book, Everyone Who Is Gone is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis, that” the border is its staging ground” and that immigration policy is governed by” a politics of perpetual crisis.”
Biden might never have noticed that. He may have reasoned politically that it was preferable to prioritize another foreign policy objectives over moving to the right on immigration in order to avoid upsetting progressives and losing the support of the Latino voter base. Or maybe Biden’s original sin was to promise a humane immigration system, but that promise turned out to be one he could n’t keep.
Voters are never more promised “moral leadership” by Joe Biden. He says there will be a crackdown.”}]] Joe Biden ran his campaign in 2020 on the grounds that immigration policies during the Trump administration were” a social failure and a regional shame.” Sen. John Thune ( R- S. D. ) recently gushed,” [W] e would never get]these measures ] in a Republican Senate,” indicating that he is now in favor of border legislation that is so in line with conservative objectives that it makes people happy.
Joe Biden ran for president in 2020 on the notion that Trump’s immigration policies were “moral failures and a national disgrace.” Now he is supporting a border deal so aligned to conservative goals that it makes people gleeful: “[We] would never get [these] measures in a Republican Senate,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. Recently, he gushed.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/02/joe-biden-border-deal-immigration-migration-moral-leadership-2024/
