Analyze. The then presidential candidate Joe Biden had promised to build a “just and humane” migration system. The slogan held promise for anyone watching the treatment of migrants thronging the border with Mexico. There was hope for a break with the Trump-era “zero tolerance” that had resulted in a horrific separation between nearly 5,000 children and their parents. On the first day of his inauguration, Joe Biden announced that construction of the border wall would be halted. so appreciated by its predecessor. “No serious political solution,” the official statement said.
Eighteen months later, the Democrats’ record seems very dull, both in terms of facts and how it is perceived by public opinion. The government chose to focus on other priorities, particularly economic ones, rather than tackle this complex issue at a time when the South American continent is facing large-scale climatic, political and social traumas that are driving millions north. At the end of September, the number of arrests at the Mexico-US border reached an all-time high: 2.38 million in one year, a 37% increase compared to 2021. This statistic includes many perpetrators with multiple passports. Local and federal agencies are overwhelmed, the judiciary is overwhelmed, and border communities are under pressure.
It’s no coincidence that Republicans have been benefiting from favorable winds since September ahead of the midterm elections on Tuesday, November 8th. They constantly insist on this migration issue, which in their minds – and only their minds – is linked to crime and specifically to the fentanyl (opioid drug) trade, reducing this issue to an “invasion” issue, like a threatened home termites. Her solution? More controls, more police, more repression, more wall, the promises made by Donald Trump are not being kept. Almost 725 kilometers were built, at a cost of 11 billion dollars (the same amount in euros). Democrats present a long-identified strong vulnerability here, prompting a section of the Latino public in the South to turn to Republicans.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Texas counterpart Greg Abbott – both seeking re-election on November 8 – have stirred controversy since the summer by organizing refugee charters and buses to other American states, allegedly to share the burden . Their instrumentalization of human misery was denounced. But their goal was achieved: putting the issue of migration back at the center of public debate, at the expense of abortion, which mobilized the Democratic camp.
You still have 51.46% of this article to read. The following is for subscribers only.