1y ago

Biden says he'll shut down the border if deal gives him authority

www.politico.com

The White House statement comes after a week of frantic negotiations in the Senate.

President Joe Biden on Friday urged Congress to pass a bipartisan bill to address the immigration crisis at the nation’s southern border, saying he would shut down the border the day the bill became law.

“What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said in a statement. “It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”

Biden’s Friday evening statement resembles a ramping up in rhetoric for the administration, placing the president philosophically in the camp arguing that the border may hit a point where closure is needed. The White House’s decision to have Biden weigh in also speaks to the delicate nature of the dealmaking, and the urgency facing his administration to take action on the border — particularly during an election year, when Republicans have used the issue to rally their base.

The president is also daring Republicans to reject the deal as it faces a make-or-break moment amid GOP fissures.

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Mazdak @lemmy.org

1y ago

Biden says he'll shut down the border if deal gives him authority

www.politico.com /news/2024/01/26/biden-urges-bipartisan-border-deal-00138206

249 comments

What a stupid thing to focus on. I hate that the southern border is even a topic people bring up. It's a completely made up problem.
- B-but scawwy foreigners!
  75% of this country thinks the border is in crisis. I fucking hate it.
  
  If we had a political party with the courage to say "It's not a crisis, quit falling for bullshit" that number would go down
  
  I think the border is in crisis. Our shitty policies make it incredibly and unnecessarily difficult for people to enter the country seeking asylum or a legal means of getting citizenship. I would say the camps of people stuck on the other side of the border, prey to criminals who would rape, steal, and murder (not to mention the asylum-seekers vulnerable to those they are seeking asylum from) are the biggest part of that crisis.
  So I'm not sure if I'd be considered part of that 75%, because my solution is to make the system more efficient in letting people in and started with paths to citizenship. Then there wouldn't be masses of people at the border.
  
  No no, scary brown people
  They're perfectly fine with white foreigners that either speak English or have enough money/power they don't care.
- Every 2 years like fucking clockwork there's a "border crisis" to waste time and energy on, which promptly disappears from public consciousness and media the day after the election. It's tiring
  
  Remember how Democrats losing a mid-term was all that was needed to cure every case of Ebola in the United States?
  Which consisted of.. that one nurse Chris Christie kidnapped and kept insisting had Ebola....
- Its an election year so theres magically another immigrant surge that needs to be fixed.
- According to the DHS,
  Affirmative asylum case filings with USCIS nearly quadrupled from 63,074 applications in 2021 to 238,841 in 2022, the highest number on record.
  The total number of defensive asylum applications filed with EOIR nearly tripled from 88,162 in 2021 to 253,524 in 2022, the highest on record.
  I don't have the numbers for all of 2023 in front of me but they're higher than the ones for 2022. (And keep in mind that not everyone crossing the border files an asylum application.)
  Hundreds of thousands more people than normal are entering across the border, and existing systems for accommodating them are overwhelmed. Maybe the best solution is not closing the border, but thinking that there is no problem is inconsistent with reality.
  
  Yeah it sounds like we need to better fund our asylum program.
  
  Crazy idea, but we all came to this country as immigrants, and wiped out most of the population that was already here. Seems a little ironic to me that we're now concerned about who can and can't live here.
  
  sounds like we need to floood our immigration system with cash so we can finally help all those human beings. you want to help human beings, right?
  
  When does it become time to deal with the issues that are driving "hundreds of thousands more people than normal" to come across the border? When do we send troops south to deal with the issues driving people to come north?
- If we had open borders, I bet 99% of Americans wouldn't even notice a change in their day-to-day life. Old peoples' obsession with the border is tiring as fuck. I just don't understand any they care so much about something that doesn't affect them, other than to simply be racist.
- This is not what I hear from people I know who are working here in Texas in the RGV. Many communities down there are overwhelmed with people. Politically, there is a real risk that what has been a Democratic stronghold in Texas is moving to the right based on just this one issue. Either way, there is legitimately a crisis happening down there
  
  if we had solid immigration policies, and a path for immigration through the southern border, and we actually staffed/supported it financially you wouldnt see all this
  but we dont
  we dont manage immigrants with the expectation they are going to come in and become citizens, and help them do so. racists are so hard set against helping people enter this country successfully it creates the environment you describe.
  if you want to solve for what youre afraid of; push for easier immigration. push for immigration centers all along the border. push for services to help relocate recent immigrants.
  this could all easily be accomplished.
  we dont because > 50% of the country are fucking racist
  
  Sure buddy, immigrants are super scary...
  
  The crisis isn't at the border. The crisis is in El Salvador, Guatamala, Honduras, Venezuela, Mexico, and much of the rest of Central America.
  
  If it were really a fucking crisis, Republicans wouldn't be torpedoing the bill that would presumably fix the problem. It's a political game and it always has been. Biden threatening to shut down the border only serves to take away the conservative's political cudgel, something that they're desperately going to need if they want voter turnout in November.
  For as long as I've been alive, there's been an "immigration issue" or "border crisis". For as long as this country has been a country xenophobes have made the argument that immigration itself is a problem.
  
  This.
  And when Texas does anything to move immigrants the enlightened left grows self-righteous about how the immigrants are supposed to be cared for where they are.
  Then you widely hear a sentiment: "Bussing immigrants in any form is obviously the result of lies and subterfuge". Why else would they get on a bus to a sanctuary city/state?
  The left needs to do some soul searching. If having a dozen busses show up gets you really bothered, then you're less tolerant than you're expecting Texas to be.
  I'm solidly on the left. Pretty far along that spectrum. I'm far enough I don't mind busses, especially if coordinated. But we cannot have an open border of any kind and no willingness to help. It's asinine.
- You don't live anywhere near the border, do you?
  
  Your anecdotes don’t mean shit when put up against statistics.
  You believe in lies.
- RIP nuked threads?
  Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan has been doing some great pieces lately including a couple good ones on the border recently. It's a serious issue for both sides of the political spectrum. Hence the point of the OP article.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dQ4-VNaG3s - Migrant Detention Camp
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buZWVQuqx0o - Arizona Border Crisis
- Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan has been doing some great pieces lately including a couple good ones on the border recently.
  As others have said, border control issues are a serious problem on either political spectrum.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dQ4-VNaG3s - Migrant Detention Camp
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buZWVQuqx0o - Arizona Border Crisis
  
  Do we not like Channel 5 or something? I find their interviews interesting most of the time.
  
  Was going to post these. Really loving the Channel 5 content these days.
- .... spoken like someone who has never actually spent time around the border for any real period of time.
  Just because the GOP is wrong in how they want to approach the issue, doesn't mean the problems aren't real.
  
  I lived in New Mexico for most of my childhood, but thanks for the condescending comment.
- 6 million illegals in 3 years. Its a problem. Hell a couple thousand caused problems for NYC. How do tiny border towns stand a chance?
  
  Stand a chance to what?
  
  You're forgetting that the entire reason why so many people enter illegally* is because it's next to impossible to enter legally unkess you have lots of connections in the US. Your average foreigner doesn't stand a chance.
  Don't want 6 million people to enter illegally? Make it easier to enter legally. It's that simple, yet people like you will never understand that. "Securing the border" only makes the problem worse. We should be opening it instead.
Why do Democrats keep trying to appease Fascists?
- Because this will undercut the only politically popular Republican position, which Republicans are currently wielding as a cudgel against the Biden Administration. In the process, Republicans are treating the people crossing the border worse and worse, increasing human suffering. If Biden can take control of the narrative of the border, there is a real possibility he can start to make things better and decrease human suffering.
  
  If Biden can take control of the narrative of the border, there is a real possibility he can start to make things better and decrease human suffering.
  There's a possibility he can, but no possibility he will.
  
  "Just a few hundreds more people in concentration camps and thousands more deported, and we can finally stop the Republicans from imprisoning and deporting immigrants and refugees!"
  Democrats having a normal one about human rights, eh?
  Edit: This may be a good place to remind everyone that the people we're de facto targeting with these policies are people with indigenous roots. This can and should be interpreted through the lens of colonialism and our ongoing genocide against Native groups.
  Edit 2: Oh boy I cannot believe I have to say this, but these people with indigenous roots are not limited to Mexico and Central America. Does anyone know anything about history here?? My God, I'd assume if one is going to comment that one would at least have the slightest idea what they're talking about.
  Edit 3: And to the people who think it's some kinda "gotcha" to point out that I'm disengaging from people who are shit-deep in the anti-immigrant hysteria, you got me. Nearly half my family are immigrants, some of whom have been detained and/or deported by our racist border policy, and I live surrounded by batshit conservatives. So yes, this is a sensitive and personal issue to me. If I wanted to talk to people like that, I'd go to the gas station or bar. Lemmy is my opportunity to talk to people who at the bare minimum agree on certain fundamental ideals, an opportunity I don't have much in real life. I will block and report you for name calling or other uncivilized attacks on my character.
- Because the both answer to the same corporate overlords
The election year eternal immigrant caravan strikes again. I get the move politically, but it’s unfortunate the GOP is so much better at messaging and controlling public focus than the Dems. They have no answer but to play the game on Republican terms.
- I don't understand how the immigrant caravan magically disappears the Wednesday after election day. It's like they start making their way to the border the January of an election year and then poof they are gone after the polls close.
  
  it's the same reason why the fears of rainbow fentanyl ramps up all october and dissappears on november 1, never to be invoked again until the next september.
  
  It's a quantum thing. Schrodinger's caravan. It both exists and doesn't exist. When election results are observed, spooky action at a distance causes the caravan to disappear.
  
  Well, they're coming here to cast illegal votes for Crooked Joe Biden /s
  It's all so sad yet they hammer it so hard that even my Trump hating friends believe this caravan bullshit.
- That’s because the GOP take the easy road of appealing to people’s fear where as dems in theory try to appeal to logic and sensibility, it’s a fight they can never win.
  
  It's also a situation requiring nuance and informed critical thinking. We need immigrants to sustain our labor force, and we should be selective about removing red tape and monolithic obstacles for all people crossing the border while maintaining a reliable record of resources and threats to prevent the intake system from being overwhelmed. You can't fit that on a bumper sticker.
- Playing the game on Republican terms is why they seem so much better at messaging than us. "Our opponents are right that this is a problem, but our solution is better" is not convincing. "Our opponents are lying about this, like they do with everything else. The situation is under control and we're going to keep it that way by [insert legislation du jour]" is.
  
  The situation is not under control, which is why it is gaining bipartisan support. Lying and saying they are lying just makes you the baddie... Like what?
- Not that Republicans want to actually solve the issue because much like abortion it's better to always be a looming scare tactic to use politically, but I kind of appreciate this move because the border is literally the only thing Republicans remotely have going into this election... And frankly, that isn't much. This border crisis thing has gone on for years and no matter how much they try to use it against Dems, it ultimately doesn't particularly impact voting outcomes all that much.
  They can't talk about the economy.
  They can't talk about covid.
  They can't talk about Law & Order without being reminded of Trump's 91 criminal charges.
  ... Border is all that is resonating a little with (frankly ignorant) voters.
  
  dont forget abortion! they accidentally removed that from their list!
- Big part of it is because Republican rhetoric is so much more shocking and sensationalist by design. It attracts attention instantly. Dems do the boring, bread-and-butter politics that we need to run the country. Doesn't attract as much attention.
I fucking hate the politics surrounding the border in this country.
- If you've never seen it, watch an old musical called 'The Music Man.' A con man finds a small town and convinces the locals that their town is on the road to ruin because someone opened up a pool hall. The GOP can find any issue and blow it up. Heck, Obama's suit was a matter of national controversy.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_tan_suit_controversy
  https://youtu.be/cbiBx5T2uX0
  
  And Democratic party members who pretend Republicans' bullshit is real and try to meet them in the middle with draconian legislation and dumbass statements like this just make the problem worse
  
  "The minute your son leaves the house, does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee? It must be because of the Trans Menace!!"
  I could see it in a modern take. With a capital T even!
The fun thing is that this bill would give any president that power.
…. Oh.
But maybe that’s what they want. A president that can shut the border for political points would decimate industry. These tend to be industries that employ a lot of salt of the earth people, and the owners give a lot of money to Republicans. Republicans use this as a wedge issue and have spent years whipping their base into a frenzy. Giving them the authority to hurt themselves.
A stupid Republican president would shut down the border and harm industry. A smart Republican president would not fall into that trap, but be paralyzed until a new talking point arises.
The base would support populist moves like shutting the border. Donors wouldn’t. Farmers with rotting crops would not.
Shrewd.
- It's shrewd for a totally different reason. Trump told them not to pass this bill, Johnson says it's DOA in the Republican House. So now Trump and the Republican House are arguing against closing the border.
  If any Republican says Biden is for open borders he can just say "I had a bipartisan deal for closing the border and Trump and the Republicans killed it."
  
  Yup. I don't think Biden wants to shut down the border, but there were many things in that deal that would be good. Additional staff to process asylum requests to speed that up is good for everyone. There's some things in there that's not so good, but overall it would improve things and no one could say he didn't anything about the borderrrrr.
  But it looks like Trump has sabotaged the thing. So now he can say "yeah I'd close the border but the republican congress won't pass the bill because Trump cares more about himself than doing something about this problem."
  I think a lot of the border stuff is overblown, there's issues, but it's not the crisis they make it out to be. But now Biden has a way to neuter that rhetoric.
  
  If any Republican says Biden is for open borders he can just say "I had a bipartisan deal for closing the border and Trump and the Republicans killed it."
  And if Republicans operated with logic and fairness, that would work.
  Unfortunately, they don't. Trump could just claim the entire thing was deepfaked and his little cult would dutifully believe it without even knowing what a deep fake was.
  They will accept literally any excuse, no matter how bad, to hold on to the opinions they want to have.
  
  You were right!
- Any president already has the power to shut the border.
  
  When Gov. Abbott ~~shut~~ slowed down the border for a couple days for inspections, it was an economic disaster. No doubt that they want to make Biden do it this time and then blame him for the consequences.
  It also seems that when Democratic presidents wield privilege to take Executive action, they are "dictators", but when Republican presidents wield privilege to take Executive action, they are "heroes".
Fucking hell, here's to hoping Congressional Republicans are too self defeating to pass this fucking trash, the fact that Democratic negotiators thought this was a good idea - like, right after the fucking Trump administration, thought "yeah, let's give the executive branch more power to be assholes to immigrants" - is just mind boggling
Then again, it feels pretty similar to Obama trying to work with Republicans to gut social security a few years after 2008, so maybe I should stop being surprised by these things
- "We won't negotiate with terrorists and fascists."
  Immediately negotiates with terrorists and fascists
  You mention Obama. I remember in 2008 being so enthused that I volunteered for his campaign and poured my heart out, only to get ... what we got. I don't see this pattern ever changing. We really need to find a way out of this two-party system. I'm not sure what that way is, but we so desperately need it.
  
  Vote for alternative parties and push for Ranked Choice Voting.
Gee, I can't imagine who else could abuse that newfound power for some other arbitrarily heinous reasons.
Do I agree? I don't think so. But I must admit this is a smart move politically. It calls their bluff.
- By calling for a bad bill?
  
  Unironically, yes. He's telling Republicans that he'll do what they want, but they still refuse
Jfc can we get someone up for election who's not a raging fascist?
Fuck this country, and fuck everyone who supports this. Every. One. No matter how much you screech "iLlEgAl" at our prospective immigrants and refugees from the comfort of your home. Fuck you personally if you're someone who does that and who thinks this is a good move by our president.
https://archive.is/TYJTU
Does this mean if Trump gets elected he'll have even more legal power?
Where are the people who say they're not the same party now?
- Collusion doesn't make them the same party. Much worse in fact.
Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan has been doing some great pieces lately including a couple good ones on the border recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dQ4-VNaG3s - Migrant Detention Camp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buZWVQuqx0o - Arizona Border Crisis
E: Is the amount of curation in this thread off the charts or is it just me?
Can someone explain to me why the border shouldn’t be closed except to legal travel?
Because it sounds to me like illegal travel SHOULD be stopped. People immigrating illegally are working for super low wages, increasing supply of labor and therefore lowering demand. It’s bad for workers. I know people say “Americans won’t do those jobs” but that’s because they are paying nothing since they can get highly desperate exploitable people. Labor should be on the side of restricted immigration.
Note I’m not talking about asylum, but the USA shouldn’t be the only place people go for asylum. It’s my impression that most immigrants are economic anyways.
- The border is already closed to illegal travel, that's why such travel is illegal.
  The border is not impenetrable - it is over a thousand miles of mostly difficult terrain - and enforcing entry requirements is difficult for those reasons.
  The single most effective way to reduce illegal immigration is to punish businesses for employing illegal immigrants. As with everything else, as long as a market exists then there will be an economic incentive to break the law. This is true for drugs, prostitution, Russian oil, etc.
  The federal government essentially enables the employment of migrants because many industries, particularly food harvesting and processing, could not operate without this labor. The consequence of the choice to not punish these companies is more migrants seeking the same economic opportunity.
  Fix the problem at that end and illegal border crossings will drop dramatically.
  
  Fantastic point, that’s really interesting about removing incentive. I agree, thank you for your reply.
  
  I agree with everything you said and that still begs the question: What does “close the border” even mean then in this context? It’s just a pointless platitude.
  
  The single most effective way to reduce illegal immigration is to punish businesses for employing illegal immigrants.
  Ironically, Desantis actually did this and got mocked for it by everyone for making the "cheap labor" in his state illegal. Notably, I never found a single discussion about how that cheap labor is only cheap because it's achieved through the exploitation of migrants with the (usually) unstated threat of deportation.
  And of course Desantis didn't pass the law for those reasons either, but it was striking to me how it never entered the national discussion.
- Because "closing the border" is a nonsense statement that doesn't account for the reality of the border abd its size. Thousands of miles of border means it is nearly impossible to patrol even a small fraction of it.
  People working for super low wages is a product of policy and exploitation. Making it easy and legal to immigrate for work is the right answer, as is enforcing labor law.
- There is no good reason except to create an underclass that provdes cheap labor. You know, like in 1860.

249 comments