Washington Post: As immigration heats up, Biden struggles for a clear plan
Democrats created a border crisis and it’s out of control. Democrats representing border districts even admit they’re anxious because it could cost them reelection.
Spoiler Alert: It will.
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As immigration heats up, Biden struggles for a clear plan
Nick Miroff and Sean Sullivan
Washington Post
July 17, 2021
The huge increase in illegal border crossings that President Biden described as “seasonal” is growing larger despite the summer heat. Americans rate his handling of immigration poorly, polls show. And the president himself worries that Republican attacks on the issue will resonate politically, according to people familiar with his thinking.
When President Barack Obama faced a similar situation, he toughened enforcement, detained families and increased deportations. But under Biden, such measures have become anathema to Democrats who feel they were badly abused by President Donald Trump.
That leaves Biden in a vise, caught between the costly reality of a historic border influx and supporters who erupt in anger when his administration hints at tighter controls.
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The cross-pressures are expected to come to a head in the next few weeks as the administration faces critical decisions about how and whether to unwind Title 42, a public health order Trump invoked to swiftly return most border-crossers to Mexico during the pandemic. Immigrant advocates are pressing the White House to fully abandon the policy, but doing so could trigger an even larger border influx — and a bigger political headache.
Federal authorities have logged more than 1.1 million apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border this fiscal year, after more than 188,000 illegal crossings in June — a 20-year-high — prompting a fresh round of Republican criticism. About one-third of those taken into custody were repeat crossers who had been previously detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency said.
Nearly six months into his presidency, Biden’s inability to shake off early struggles on immigration is creating growing anxiety for Democrats in swing districts and border areas who face tough congressional elections next year.
“I don’t want to beat up on the administration, but we have to make decisions that are not easy and soft,” said Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Tex.), whose district includes the Rio Grande Valley, the busiest stretch for illegal crossings. “We need to be humane and treat people with dignity, but we have to have orderly process on the southern border.”
The quandary erupted earlier this year during Biden’s messy rollout of a decision to allow more refugees into the United States. The administration pressed ahead with a plan to relax Trump’s strict limits, but Biden balked as he grew concerned about the perception of allowing more foreigners in at a time his administration was struggling to manage a surge of migrants arriving on the southern border.
That hesitation prompted fury from fellow Democrats, so Biden reversed course again and agreed to lift the refugee cap after all.
The immigration issue has bedeviled presidents for decades, as Americans say they favor firm limits but also humane treatment, while Congress remains too divided to act. But Biden faces a unique challenge in following Trump, who electrified anti-immigrant sentiment on the right but at the same time energized pro-immigrant passions on the left.
Upon taking office, Biden moved quickly to relax some of Trump’s toughest policies. He ended a program that required families seeking asylum to wait outside the United States, and he stopped using Title 42 to turn away children arriving without parents or guardians.
But the basic tools of immigration enforcement — detention, deportation and strict bans on who can enter — remain stigmatized among many Democrats, and unacceptable to former activist leaders who now hold key positions in the White House.
As one former U.S. official who worked on Biden’s transition team put it, “We did the positive stuff quickly, but not the deterrence part.”
The official, who maintains close ties to the Biden team, described the president as “super concerned” about the political ramifications of the tumult at the border. “He knows the damage this can do and what a gift this is to Republicans,” said the official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.
In a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 33 percent of survey respondents said they approved of Biden’s handling of immigration while 51 percent disapproved. It was Biden’s worst-rated issue in the survey.
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“Biden is a centrist, but he depends on his staff like any other president,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.), who represents a border district and has urged the administration to toughen its approach. When it comes to immigration policy, Cuellar said, “the more ‘open borders’ vision is winning out at the White House.”
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ICE officials who were not authorized to speak to reporters say the agency has been deploying more personnel to the southern border and increasing detention bed capacity to brace for the potential impacts of ending Title 42.
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The alternative, many Republicans say, is a return to Trump’s hard-line policies, or at least the stepped-up enforcement favored by predecessors in both parties. Biden’s resistance to taking this path has broken a historical pattern, surprising both allies and adversaries.