Biden Takes Hits From All Sides as He Tries to Walk a Fine Line on the Border

President Joe Biden is once again feeling the squeeze on immigration – only this time it's members of his own party who are applying the pressure. While Republicans have long criticized Biden's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, the president has faced intensifying public criticism from state and local Democrats whose cities are overwhelmed by migrant arrivals, as well as from progressives who are urging him to reconsider the new policies his administration rolled out this week. Biden is attempting to walk a fine line on the issue. His administration waived 26 laws to build roughly 20 miles of border barriers in South Texas, with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas citing an “acute and immediate need” to prevent unlawful entries into the U.S. But Biden argued he couldn’t prevent construction since the funds had already been appropriated, and said that border walls aren’t effective. Biden’s administration also announced on Thursday they will begin deporting migrants who crossed illegally back to Venezuela, a policy shift that follows record levels of Venezuelan migrants coming to the U.S. border. While these moves could mollify some of his Democratic critics, he has also opened the door to objections from those on the left who fear a return to the more strident policies of the Trump administration. It’s a political liability that threatens to continue to hang over Biden heading into an election year. “If you look at the flow over the Biden administration, they've been struggling all along with getting the right formula for handling the border,” said Earl Anthony Wayne, who served as U.S. ambassador to Mexico under the Obama administration. Read More Clayton Kershaw Overcomes Shoulder Injury to Will Himself Into Another Dodgers Postseason Pet Shop Boys Claim Drake Didn’t Get Permission to Sample Their Song A Croctober History of the Hottest and Weirdest Croc Designs Marlins’ Sandy Alcántara Will Miss 2024 Season After Undergoing Tommy John Surgery ‘Bachelor’ Clayton Echard Announces Paternity Test Results After ‘5 Months of Torture’ Percentage of Successful MLB Video Reviews Drops Slightly This Season The administration’s border wall move in particular has drawn criticism from some key Biden supporters. “To expand the border wall would be to continue the harmful, despicable immigration practices of the previous administration,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., a member of Biden’s 2024 presidential advisory board. “I am deeply disappointed in the Biden Administration for this hazardous move as the climate crisis looms and the humanitarian crisis deepens.” Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, a co-chair for Biden’s reelection campaign, said that walls are expensive and ineffective: "I urge the White House to reconsider this decision — especially the disastrous choice to waive environmental laws." Biden’s return to direct deportation of Venezuelan migrants has also received push back from immigrant advocates. “It also undermines what we say we are as a country and it is not consistent with our values,” said Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of America’s Voice, who worked on Biden’s 2020 campaign. “This would be sort of a continuation of just implementing policies that we know not only are not gonna help, but in the long term, really damage our credibility.” After border officials encountered 232,972 migrants along the southwest border in August, they encountered a record 260,000 in September, Fox News reported. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Mayorkas also traveled to Mexico this week to discuss migration and combating drug trafficking. President Joe Biden President Joe Biden delivers remarks on new administration efforts to cancel student debt and support borrowers at the White House on October 04, 2023 in Washington, D.C.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images A political headache Biden has been taking hits from all sides on immigration since taking office. Polls consistently show the public’s approval of his handling of the situation at the border is even lower than his overall approval rating. A new national Marquette Law School Poll found that 52% of voters said that former President Donald Trump, the likely 2024 Republican nominee, would do a better job handling immigration and border security issues, compared to just 28% for Biden. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that Biden’s border wall move proves he was right to champion it. “I will await his apology!” he wrote. Biden, who pledged during his 2020 campaign that there would “not be another foot of wall constructed” during his administration, said Thursday there was nothing he could do to stop this latest project. He said that funds were already appropriated for the construction during the Trump administration, and that his attempts to redirect the money failed with Congress. On his first day in office, Biden issued a proclamation that terminated the national emergency at the border and diverted funds to construct a border wall, saying it was “not a serious policy solution.” He reiterated that view on Thursday, saying “no” when asked if thought the border wall was effective. A DHS spokesperson said the barrier was first announced in June and that the agency continues to prioritize border technology that helps detect migrants. The latest moves from the Biden administration come amid incoming fire from unlikely quarters. Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker wrote to Biden seeking “swift action,” as Texas sends increasing busloads of migrants to his state. And New York City Mayor Eric Adams, also a Democrat, is traveling to Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador this week to dissuade migrants from seeking asylum in his city, saying, “We are at capacity.” “It's unusual to see the mayor of New York City go to the southern border and tell people ‘don't come over the border,’” said Chris Cummiskey, a former senior DHS official during the Obama administration. “That part of the chorus is different and so I think that there is a recognition that more response is necessary.” Needing to 'move more swiftly' Rather than a policy or strategy shift from the administration, Cummiskey said, there appears to be “a recognition that the current circumstances are unsustainable, given the volumes of people that are coming over the southern border.” The difference, in this instance, is the “swiftness with which they have to respond,” he said. Typically, environmental regulations would slow the pace of building structures at the border. “But because of what's going on today, down there, I think that there's an urgency that they've got to move more swiftly,” he said. Wayne, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said the new policy to send migrants back to Venezuela when they cross the border unlawfully and have no legal basis to remain is “a big step forward,” adding that many migrants who are coming are “economic migrants” and likely don’t fall within the parameters for U.S. asylum. The Biden administration has also tried to expand legal pathways for migrants to seek asylum, such as a humanitarian parole for Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans, while trying to undo harsh Trump-era immigration policies. The administration has also said they would establish migrant processing centers in Central and South America, but little information on the centers has been unveiled. Wayne said while he’s confident the administration is committed to developing legal pathways for migrants to come seek asylum, officials are now realizing there needs to be some deterrent in place so migrants who do not qualify for asylum do not come to the border. “The policymakers have realized that they have to have an enforcement and a cost,” Wayne said. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.