WASHINGTON — After exhausting efforts for Republican votes to pass a bipartisan immigration overhaul deal and with immigration a major re-election vulnerability, President Joe Biden Tuesday ordered — with some exceptions — shutting the border when the system is overwhelmed.
Takeaways from the Biden new border restrictions, effective Wednesday:
Key context and background: It’s been 27 years since Congress last passed a major immigration reform measure. Last February, Sen. James Lankford, a conservative Oklahoma Republican, forged a bipartisan Senate comprehensive reform deal. Lankford called it “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to close our open border and give future administrations the effective tools they need to stop the border chaos and protect our nation.”
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, shut down Lankford’s drive in order to deny Biden the win and keep the southern border alive as an issue he can run on in 2024.
Biden in trouble. Polls show how Biden’s support is dissolving when it comes to border security and immigration matters, enough to cost him a second term. The explosion of migrants shipped from the border by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to Chicago and other cities is making things worse for Biden.
The Abbott/Trump ploys are working. Biden and Trump meet for their first debate June 27 in Atlanta, hosted by CNN. Biden needs to bring to the debate evidence he’s done something on the border, since it’s expected that Trump will focus on Biden’s Achilles heel.
Anger on the far left: Democratic progressives at the far left — in Illinois, that’s Reps. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Delia Ramirez — blasted Biden’s move as Trump-like. “To see this administration continue to push for extreme policies is disappointing and demoralizing for our communities,” Garcia said in a statement.
Said Ramirez: “Did I hope that the Biden administration would courageously reject Republican fear-mongering and Trump-era policies to protect and defend the rights of asylum seekers? Of course I did.”
Far left pols such as Garcia and Ramirez see their job as holding Biden accountable — and to keep him from heading, as he is, to the middle on immigration in order to appeal to independent voters.
Reality check: Trump back in the White House will be a nightmare for immigration activists. Garcia and Ramirez will need to deliver, not deny, votes for Biden.
Biden is not Trump when it comes to core values about immigrants.
Biden made this clear in his speech Tuesday. Without naming Trump, he said he will not “demonize” immigrants, or refer to them as “poisoning the blood” of a country, separate children from their families at the border, ban people from the U.S. because of religion, use the U.S. military to hunt down migrants, or create detention camps.
Look who is restrained: Mayor Brandon Johnson, usually marching in step with Ramirez and other progressives, was tempered and supportive in his reaction to Biden’s decision. Since Biden’s orders will not impact the migrant situation in Chicago, Johnson did not have to weigh in. But he did.
Maybe this is about Johnson not making himself an outlier tethered to the far left as Chicago hosts the 2024 Democratic National Convention in August. In a statement released Tuesday, Johnson said, “It is time for Congress to finally work with President Biden to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and create fair and functional policies for our country.”
The far right is full of self-righteous indignation: Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who may be under consideration to be Trump’s vice president pick, referred to Biden at a press conference at the Capitol, saying “Why didn’t you do this in 2021? Why didn’t you do this is 2022? Why didn’t you do this in 2023?”
So why did Biden wait till now to wield his presidential pen? He had to first try to get a comprehensive compromise deal through Congress. If Biden’s far left wing is angry with him now, imagine if he would have put restrictions in place without trying first to get something through Congress.
