The migration crisis at the southern US border could determine the election outcome, so President Joe Biden must solve this problem so that Donald Trump does not become president again – says the British weekly ‘Economist’.
In 2016, Trump won the presidential election with a promise to tackle “the chaos at the border.” He then claimed that the number of immigrants crossing the US southern border illegally had reached a record high.
That wasn’t true then, but it is now
– explains the weekly.
Trump didn’t solve the migration problem, but the pandemic did it for him. However, when travel became possible again in 2021, the cumulative wave of immigrants was already many times larger than before the lockdown.
There are more immigrants than the population of Chicago
When Biden became president, there was resentment against Trump’s overly strict and sometimes cruel policies toward immigrants, and the practice of forcibly separating immigrant children from their parents made public opinion exceptionally friendly toward the newcomers.
However, since the start of Biden’s presidency, more than 3.1 million immigrants have come to the United States, which is more than the population of Chicago. This is not the fault of this government, which changed course in 2022 and began applying stricter rules regarding letting people in in the hope of gaining asylum.
– reports the Economist.
But what Americans don’t know is that Biden is applying some of the same restrictions on migrants as the Trump administration, because the current president is reluctant to make those concessions. As a result, according to polls, Americans have much higher confidence in Republicans than Democrats when it comes to immigration reform, and this is the only significant advantage this party has.
“Biden must see this as an opportunity.”
The issue of the border crisis has been linked to aid funds for Ukraine, as Republicans, who have a majority in the House of Representatives, decided not to pass a bill authorizing a new tranche of aid to Kiev unless the White House makes concessions does in the field of immigration. The Biden administration is outraged because it rightly believes that supporting Ukraine is strategically important for America, regardless of its migrant problems.
But Biden “should see this as an opportunity” and pay attention to Republican proposals regarding migration that make sense, the weekly advises.
The case is complicated by demands from the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, including the ability to detain immigrant families indefinitely. Democrats believe that making such demands is simply an attempt to derail negotiations over funds for Ukraine, and is actually a bluff that Trump’s supporters want to use against Biden.
– explains the Economist.
Biden should call this a bluff, roll up his sleeves and get to work resolving the situation at the border. This would be a good solution. And it would increase his chances of winning the presidential election
– closes the weekly magazine.
Meanwhile, Politico reported Thursday, citing Republican senators, that Trump himself is pressuring Republicans to reject a compromise with Democrats on immigration as he wants to make the border crisis the main issue of his election campaign.
yes/DAD
Source: wPolityce