The border crisis is putting President Joe Biden in a tough spot. His approval ratings have suffered due to the ongoing problem, but he’s now trying to leverage the failure of the Senate border bill to blame former President Donald Trump for the crisis.
“Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” President Biden said in early February after Republicans in Congress tanked a bipartisan border bill he was prepared to sign into law.
However, recent polls show that the president’s message doesn’t appear to be resonating with independent voters and many of his supporters, who are concerned about his failure to address the border issue.
In his recent State of the Union address, President Biden continued to shift the blame to his predecessor and Republicans in Congress, saying “politics have derailed” his recent border deal.
“We can fight about the border, or we can fix it. I’m ready to fix it. Send me the border bill now,” he said in a fiery address.
However, Democrats are divided on the issue. Progressives are against any potential limitation on asylum. They want to safeguard the ability of illegal immigrants to seek asylum at the border. In the early days of the Biden administration, they played a significant role in shaping the immigration policy of the president and reversing the Trump administration’s border measures.
Meanwhile, Democrats in red or swing states and districts express concern about the surge in illegal crossings. They call on President Biden to take executive action to address the problem.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), a rare red state Democrat in the Senate, sent a letter to President Biden on Feb. 29 urging him to to secure the border.
“What’s happening at the southern border is unacceptable, plain and simple,” he wrote in the letter. “I respectfully urge you to use all of the remaining tools at your disposal to strengthen border security where executive action is possible.”
The Majority Wants Trump’s Border Wall
More than 6 in 10 Americans describe illegal immigration as a very serious problem, a new Monmouth University poll found.
The same poll showed 53 percent of Americans support building a border wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. This marks the first time a majority of respondents have backed the measure since the polling institute began asking the question in 2015. During the Trump administration, support for building a wall didn’t rise above 44 percent.
Republicans and independents showed strong support for a border wall in the most recent survey, with 86 percent and 58 percent in favor, respectively. In contrast, only 17 percent of Democrats supported the idea.
“Illegal immigration has taken center stage as a defining issue this presidential election year. Other Monmouth polling found this to be Biden’s weakest policy area, including among his fellow Democrats,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, 61 percent of respondents support President Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program, according to the same poll. The Trump administration implemented the program, which requires would-be asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims are processed.
On his first day in office, President Biden stopped adding illegal immigrants to the “Remain in Mexico” program and began releasing more illegal immigrants into the United States. In October 2021, Secretary Mayorkas issued a memo repealing the program in its entirety. Mr. Mayorkas claimed that asylum seekers had been “exposed to harm while waiting in Mexico” under the scheme.
However, the program has been touted by border security advocates for its effectiveness in curbing illegal immigration because it ended “catch-and-release,” the practice in which illegal immigrants are released into the United States with a court date far in the future.
‘Too Little, Too Late’
Just a week before his State of the Union address, President Biden made a trip to the southern border to amplify his message that Republicans thwarted his border deal. His visit to Brownsville, Texas, coincided with former President Trump’s trip to Eagle Pass, Texas.
The National Border Patrol Council, which supported the border agreement, slammed the president’s planned trip to Brownsville as a tactic to rescue his presidency, calling it “too little, too late.”
Brownsville was once a hot spot for illegal immigration on the southern border. The city declared a state of emergency in May 2023.
John Cowen, mayor of Brownsville, stated that his city, with fewer than 200,000 residents, has helped more than 240,000 illegal immigrants since 2021.
The illegal crossings have decreased notably in recent months, thanks partly to the Texas governor’s initiatives to prevent illegal immigration, including building anti-climb barriers and turning illegal immigrants back to Mexico. It had been the busiest region for illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border for about a decade.
Pedro Cardenas, a commissioner for the city of Brownsville, believes that the influx is not over. He says there are thousands of migrants in Matamoros, Mexico, on the other side of the border waiting for their appointment under the new U.S. government’s phone app program.
As part of President Biden’s expanded parole program, asylum seekers can schedule an appointment using the Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) phone app, known as CBP One, while waiting outside the country.
Migrants who obtain an appointment can enter the United States via a port of entry and apply for a work permit after being released from U.S. custody. Conservatives have slammed the president’s decision to expand the program, accusing him of misusing the administration’s immigration authority.
Mr. Cardenas, who voted for Joe Biden in 2020, told the Epoch Times that the president’s visit was overdue.
“I think he should have been here a little earlier,” he said. “When we had thousands of people crossing daily, he was not here.”
Mr. Cardenas said that he would wait to see how things unfold in the coming months before deciding on whether to vote for President Biden in November. He said he wants to see a shift in policy and concrete steps from the president to address the border problem.
Martin Aguilera, 50, is the son of migrants from Mexico. He was born and raised in Brownsville.
He blames both President Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for the border crisis.
“I voted for President Biden. I thought he was going to be a good president. But I don’t see that,” he told The Epoch Times. “I’m a Democrat, but I’m going to vote for Trump.”
Mr. Aguilera said that the 2024 election will be his first time voting for a Republican president.
“My mother and father came from Mexico, and they came to work legally,” Mr. Aguilera said.
He’s upset about how his and other taxpayers’ money is being spent on illegal immigrants. He criticized, for example, the Southwest Key program in his county, which receives funding from the federal government to offer shelter for unaccompanied minors through the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Those kids misbehave. They do whatever they want. They fight with other people. Nobody can do anything about it because the government is protecting those kids. They get the best food. They get the best clothes. Who pays? We’re paying for them,” he said.
“They receive special treatment, including psychologists, doctors, and eye doctors. They get everything for free. If I want to see a doctor, I have to pay a lot of money.”
Read more here...
