When President Biden and former President Trump Take the stage in Atlanta On Thursday, the immigration and humanitarian crisis at the southern border will almost certainly A flashpoint.
Numerous polls show that voters believe Trump is best positioned to address the issue, and he has consistently criticized Biden over it. He has blamed his successor’s policies for the crisis, and has flooded his social media feeds with messages about crimes allegedly committed by immigrants, calling them “Biden migrant murders.” He has vowed to deport millions of immigrants who are in the country without legal authorization.
Trump has described migrants as ‘highly vulnerable’. “Beasts” and even suggested that they should do so turned into mixed martial arts fighters,
“I said, ‘Dana, I have an idea for you to make a lot of money. You’re going to start a new immigrant fighting league, just for immigrants,'” Trump said at an evangelical Christian conference in Washington, D.C., last weekend, referring to Dana White, head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Such comments have gained Trump popularity among his supporters and others.
Aides and advisers say Biden faces a tough challenge, and he needs to deliver a nuanced message on Thursday night that emphasizes a balance between the need for border security and humanity for immigrants who have already entered this country.
“I don’t think it’s either-or, and I don’t think the American public believes it’s either-or,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) told the Times this week. “We can do both, and we should do both.”
He said Thursday night’s debate would be an example of how “Joe Biden speaks to the American people. Donald Trump speaks to his base.”
Matt A. Barreto, a pollster for the Biden campaign, said a survey he conducted in April found that two-thirds of respondents in key battleground states “want a balanced approach to the immigration system and report high levels of support for policies that address both border security and a path to citizenship.”
“This is what the president is pushing for and polling shows that this is what the American people want,” Barreto told the Times. “They want to see an orderly border and they also have tremendous empathy for long-term illegal immigrants and want to bring them out of the shadows.”
Biden recently took two steps that reflect this balancing act, imposing limits on asylum seekers and clearing a path to citizenship for illegal spouses of U.S. citizens.
For the third month in a row, respondents April Gallup Poll Immigration was cited as the biggest problem facing the United States. In a recent Washington Post-Schar School of Policy and Government survey of swing state voters, 42% of respondents said immigrants should be deported. Nearly 60% said immigrants should be given the chance to apply for legal status.
Still, according to the same poll, Trump’s behavior on immigration was more favored than Biden’s by 52% and 26%.
During the debate, Trump is likely to raise the issue of serious crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants.
In one case, two Venezuelans who entered the U.S. illegally earlier this year were charged in connection with the death of a 12-year-old girl in Houston. “We have a new Biden migrant murder spree — it’s only going to get worse, and it’s all Crooked Joe Biden’s fault,” Trump said on Truth Social.
But immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born people. studies showThe Times reported earlier this year that Trump was raising money with Thomas Homan, the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who helped implement the widely derided family separation policy.
In response, Trump spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said, “Biden’s reversal of President Trump’s immigration policies has created an unprecedented and unprecedented surge in illegal immigration, humanitarian, and national security crisis at our southern border.”
Levitt said that if Trump returned to the Oval Office, “he would reinstate all of his previous policies, introduce brand new repressive measures that would rattle every criminal trafficker in the world, and mobilize every federal and state power necessary to launch the largest deportation campaign in American history.”
Trump has shifted his stance in recent weeks, saying in a podcast that immigrants who graduate from American colleges should receive green cards. Fierce resistance from your colleagues.
His spokesperson then clarified that not all graduates would receive green cards, saying it would only apply to “the most thoroughly vetted college graduates who will never undermine American wages or workers.”
Earlier this year, House Republicans heeded former President Trump’s demands and killed a bipartisan border security bill after months of negotiations in the Senate. The negotiations also highlighted differences among Democrats and illustrated two things Biden will need to focus on Thursday: how to speak to voters who think the southern border is too porous while also emphasizing the contributions of immigrants already in the country.
Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee speaks to refugees at the border near San Diego in June.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“Every American should know that Trump proudly killed the strongest bipartisan border bill in a generation — favoring fentanyl smugglers over Border Patrol and our safety,” campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz said, pointing to one avenue of attack Biden could use on Thursday.
Padilla opposed the winter agreement because it did not include reforms to aid farm workers and illegal immigrants already in the country. Biden said at the time that he would have signed the agreement, but it never reached his desk because of Trump’s opposition.
Even though he doesn’t like the deal, Padilla said Biden has done a good job with executive orders and public proclamations aimed at securing the southern border and helping people already here. Padilla pointed to a recent executive order that Protecting immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens Those who have lived in the country continuously for at least a decade. The move will give 500,000 immigrants a quick path to US citizenship.
Unlike Padilla, Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) supported the Senate compromise deal. The former Phoenix mayor saw it as a good start that immediately allayed his voters’ frustrations and “reestablished operational control” at the border. Stanton has frequently traveled to border stations and ports of entry — often with Republicans — and said what he’s seen is unsettling.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration Raised legal standard for asylum claims And access to asylum for those crossing the border illegally has been restricted, as arrests average more than 2,500 a day, as is common.
Administration officials say that shift is difficult without additional funding, which could be made available under the border bill. Mexico has agreed to accept migrants from some other countries, such as Venezuela and Cuba, allowing some to be removed from the U.S. more quickly, but officials cannot count on continued cooperation from other countries, such as China, to take back their citizens.
Still, after record high arrests late last year, Border Patrol said preliminary data shows arrests have been up since Biden’s announcement Up to 25% drop,
Figures for May show arrests fell to the third lowest level of any month during his presidency. Also carried in the shield This bill would protect millions of spouses and stepchildren of immigrant U.S. citizens from deportation, and provide them with a path to citizenship through marriage, to which they are entitled.
Customs and Border Protection said agents seized Remains of 895 migrants recovered The number of specimens discovered in fiscal year 2022 will be three times greater than in 2018. Advocates say that number is too low.
Stanton said this debate is a moment where Biden can point to these accomplishments and explain how Republican intransigence has thwarted any attempt to find more sustainable solutions. Stanton was at Biden’s executive order signing ceremony, where he highlighted the work of a formerly undocumented nurse who helped COVID-19 patients during the pandemic. The nurse had benefited from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,
“Biden understands that you need strong border security and fair immigration, smart immigration reform,” Stanton said. “Those always go together.”
Times staff writer Andrea Castillo contributed to this report.
