President Biden walks along the US-Mexico border fence in El Paso, Texas. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
President Biden recently found support from border Democrats for what they see as a new public strategy on immigration.
Zoom in: The administration instituted a White House address and visit to El Paso while House Republicans prepared for investigations into the administration’s handling of the border.
- “I think on that issue he’s going where a lot of us wanted him to be. He’s moved to the middle,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, a moderate border Democrat from Texas, told Axios after his trip to the U.S. El Paso border with Biden.
- Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), who also accompanied the president to the border in her district, agreed that a change in strategy was signaled last week.
- Escobar told Axios she thought it was the right approach and that some of her more concerned colleagues would come around.
Between the lines: Immigration has long been a political minefield — and administration has sought to address record numbers of border crossings politically.
Democrats have tended to avoid the thorny issue that goes beyond Trump policy, such as family separation.
- “We need to have a message as Democrats,” Cuellar said. “We can have both. We can treat migrants with respect while offering security.”
- Notable was Biden’s decision to announce a controversial new border policy from the White House and then visit the border. “The country needed to hear from him,” Escobar said.
In the meantime, Republicans have been more than happy to draw attention to immigration, particularly through efforts by some governors to bus migrants from border states into Democratic enclaves, driving national headlines.
What’s up: New policies that offer new temporary legal avenues but crack down on illegal border crossings and potentially make it harder for some migrants to access asylum have prompted complaints from Democrats and supporters.
- Senator Bob Menendez (DN.J.) released a damning statement. Hispanic Caucus members of Congress showered DHS Secretary Mayorkas with questions and concerns in a closed-door virtual meeting.
- Comparisons have been drawn between Biden’s newly announced policies and those of Stephen Miller — even as a former Trump official went to twitter to criticize the extended policy as “amnesty”.
- Escobar said she agrees with concerned activists and Democrats: “1,000% into where I wish we could be, but those of us living the reality on the ground have a more realistic perspective.”
What you say: “Expanding avenues for legal immigration, increasing border security and reducing illegal immigration have been core principles of President Biden’s approach to immigration since day one,” a White House official told Axios.
- The official added that Biden has “stayed true to these principles even as he has tailored his response to changing migration patterns, new court orders and the continued inaction of Congress.”
The big picture: Biden has embraced many of the priorities of progressive immigration advocates in the 2020 presidential election.
- He made sweeping promises to end several Trump policies, pursue legislation to give millions of undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship, and end the for-profit imprisonment of immigrants.
- Since taking office, he has pursued many of these goals, repeatedly urging Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
- But a sharp increase in border crossings, a shift in migrant nationalities, and huge logistical problems faced by federal agencies and border states have helped him to be more public about his new border enforcement policy ahead of 2024.
The bottom line: Some see a change but are not convinced that the new policy is enough.
- A Central American diplomat said Biden had changed his immigration strategy and that it was significant that he visited the border.
- But the diplomat added that the new measures “will take some of the pressure off in the short term”. They “will not solve the problem”.