Immigration and the Southern Border in the U.S.

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How Biden botched the border

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Aboard Air Force One en route to tour the southern border in January 2023, President Biden sat at the head of his conference table and exploded with fury, Axios' Alex Thompson and Stef Kight report. The president lit into his team, which included then-Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O'Malley Dillon, Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall and other immigration officials. He demanded obscure immigration data points — and vented when his staff didn't have them handy. Why it matters: The previously unreported meeting, recounted to Axios by three people familiar with the events, is emblematic of the Biden administration's struggle with the border crisis during the past three years — infighting, blame-shifting and indecision. Biden's fury subsided, and aides scrambled for the information he wanted. People in the meeting later told others in frustration that his winding process and irritability were making it more difficult to reach decisions about the border. The White House counters that the meeting was "productive." Spokesperson Andrew Bates told Axios that "multiple firsthand participants of the meeting refute this description of the tone and outcome" of a conversation on "the specifics of this complex issue." The rolling chaos along the border has grown to the point that Biden now is embracing immigration policies he ran against in 2020 — such as restricting asylum laws and suggesting he'll "shut down" the border — as the crisis threatens his re-election. Reality check: Much of the current crisis is rooted in factors Biden's team has had little control over — including unprecedented global calamities that have pushed millions of migrants to the U.S., decades of congressional inaction, and the state of key agencies after the Trump administration. Many current and former Biden officials say they believe they've done their best considering the circumstances. But others told Axios they think the administration has fallen far short on matters within its control. What happened: The crisis grew slowly. Many administration leaders treated the issue like a hot potato because it was politically thankless, several sources in and out of government told Axios. The idea that no one wanted to "own it" came up repeatedly in interviews about the border crisis. But the problem required a robust and coordinated response at several levels of the federal government. As the humanitarian conditions at the border have deteriorated and the politics surrounding immigration have become a thorn for Biden, he has become scratchier when the issue comes up, according to current and former aides. "There are definite incentives ... to not be the person who owns the scary issue with no solutions," a former government official close to the issue told Axios. "If you're the person briefing the president, you get to piss him off every day." Continues below. 🔎 Part 2: West Wing border war A left-behind sneaker is caught in razor wire near the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, earlier this month. Photo: Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images Warring ideologies inside the White House and the Democratic Party slowed decision-making about the border, Axios' Alex Thompson and Stef Kight report. Some officials wanted policies designed to punish or deter people who crossed the border illegally. Others — including vocal immigration advocates outside the administration — pushed to reform asylum policies and expand legal pathways for migrants to stay in the U.S., sources said. The White House's immigration team also saw constant turnover. As a result, "the strategy was incoherent from the very beginning," said one former Biden White House official involved in immigration policy. The White House generally didn't want to talk publicly about immigration or the border for much of Biden's first three years, feeling it would draw attention to a political vulnerability, sources said. White House officials limited and pushed against having Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas or other immigration officials appear on TV until a few months ago. Publicly, the White House also initially downplayed jumps in illegal border crossings as normal "ebbs and flows" — even as some internally pushed to acknowledge that the problem was significant. Infighting broke out among those on Biden's team. Domestic policy adviser Susan Rice emerged as a central — and controversial — coordinator of the administration's approach to the border. Even many of her critics credit her with taking on more responsibility on the border at a time when most other top Biden officials were shying away from it. There's still deep animosity toward Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra for what was seen as his reluctance to find more space in child migrant shelters, which are overseen by HHS, according to several sources familiar with the dynamics. Rice referred to Becerra as a "bitch-ass" and privately called him an "idiot," according to multiple sources. During one meeting when Biden was tearing into Becerra, Rice passed Mayorkas a note that read: "Don't save him," according to two people familiar with the meeting. White House spokesman Andrew Bates told Axios: "President Biden is proud that his team has worked well together as they work to resolve unprecedented challenges, and as congressional Republicans continue to choose politics over securing our border."

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Poll shows voters are less trusting of state governments when it comes to immigration

As the tension rises between Republican governors and the Biden administration over the U.S.-Mexico border, voters are less likely to trust the state rather than the federal government when it comes to immigration, according to a national public opinion poll published Monday.

https://floridaphoenix.com/blog/poll-shows-voters-are-less-trusting-of-state-governments-when-it-comes-to-immigration/?

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Biden's big border move

In a sign of how concerned the White House is over immigration, President Biden is considering borrowing a page from former President Trump.

Why it matters: The Senate's bipartisan border negotiations are dead. But the president's political problem at the border hasn't gone away, Axios' Hans Nichols and Stef Kight report.

• The dramatic actions that Biden is considering on the southern border — including an executive order that would restrict the ability of migrants to claim asylum — don't require congressional approval.

Zoom in: Through executive action, Biden would attempt to turn asylum-seekers away at the border if they cross illegally, similar to what the Senate compromise plan contemplated, as first reported by CNN.

• Trump repeatedly tried to restrict access to asylum — and is planning to do so again if he returns to the White House.
• The legal authority that Biden is considering powered Trump's Muslim ban and similar sweeping restrictions at the border, which got tied up in courts.
• If elected again, Trump wants to use Section 212f of the U.S. code, which grants the president broad power to "suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants" if their entry "would be detrimental to the interests of the United States."

The White House still wants a deal from Congress, said spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández.

• "No executive action, no matter how aggressive, can deliver the significant policy reforms and additional resources Congress can provide and that Republicans rejected," he said.

The bottom line: The actions under consideration will inflame Latino groups and the progressive wing of Biden's party, which has expressed alarm about some of the policy changes Biden has been mulling.

• A White House official cautioned that a final decision has not been made on any potential executive actions.
• But the official noted the administration wanted to preserve its ability to secure the border.

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Judge blocks Texas law that gives police broad powers to arrest migrants who illegally enter US

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday blocked a new Texas law that would give police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S., dealing a victory to the Biden administration with a broad rejection of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s immigration enforcement effort.

https://apnews.com/article/texas-migrant-arrests-court-ruling-3bcded91620cbd9686575caa6bcac203?

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What took you so long? Mexican military finally cracks down on border crisis at flashpoint Jacumba ahead of Biden and Trump visits

In what may be a too little, too late move, Mexican military are now blocking a flood of Chinese migrants from illegally crossing into the US near a border hot spot in California .

https://local.newsbreak.com/arizona-state/3350882616901-what-took-you-so-long-mexican-military-finally-cracks-down-on-border-crisis-at-flashpoint-jacumba-ahead-of-biden-and-trump-visits?

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Biden pushes failed border deal in Texas visit, blasts GOP for neglecting crisis

President Biden during a rare trip to the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday went on offense on immigration, slamming Republicans for squashing the bipartisan border deal and pushing them to bring it to a vote.

https://www.axios.com/2024/02/29/biden-trump-border-security-immigration-policy?

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Biden challenges Trump

In a stunning moment today, Joe Biden used his second U.S.-Mexico border visit as president to urge Donald Trump to work with him on passing the toughest immigration law in decades.

Why it matters: Biden campaigned on ending Trump-era border policies. Now he's accusing Republicans of standing in the way of his efforts to halt a historic migrant crisis.

• "Instead of telling members of Congress to block this legislation, join me," Biden said in Brownsville, Texas.
• Biden prodded House Republicans to "show a little spine" and take up the Senate border deal they helped torpedo earlier this year.

300 miles upstream in Eagle Pass, Texas, Trump said Biden has "the blood of countless innocent victims" on his hands, Axios' Shauneen Miranda and April Rubin reported.

• "The United States is being overrun by the 'Biden migrant crime,'" Trump said today.
• Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than other U.S. residents, multiple studies have found.

The big picture: Biden's visit underscores a shift in his campaign to more forcefully address illegal immigration, Axios' Stef Kight and Hans Nichols reported ahead of the visit.

• Trump now promises mass deportations if he wins the White House again in November, after launching his presidential campaign in 2015 by casting undocumented immigrants as criminals.

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Migrant cases soar 167%, to 8M!

Data: Immigration and Customs Enforcement, internal documents, obtained by Axios. Chart: Axios Visuals More than 8 million asylum seekers and other migrants will be living inside the U.S. in legal limbo by fall — a 167% increase in five years, according to internal government projections obtained by Axios' Stef Kight. Why it matters: That's up from about 3 million in 2019 — a sign of how the underfunded, outdated U.S. immigration system can't keep up with new border surges. The backlog has left millions of people living under threat of deportation. The data show that while the backlog has exploded as President Biden has struggled to deal with the unprecedented crush of migrants from around the world, millions already were in the U.S. during the Trump administration. 🧮 By the numbers: At the end of the 2023 fiscal year, more than 6 million people were on what officials call the "non-detained docket." The government projects the total will grow to 8 million by Oct. 1, according to Homeland Security documents sent to Congress. That includes people who have been ordered to be deported, or who don't have final decisions from U.S. officials on their asylum or other immigration cases — but who aren't being held in the limited detention space that's available. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has about 40,000 detention beds. An estimated 2 million of the migrants in the backlog likely will be high-priority cases — mostly those who have orders to be deported to their home countries, and some with criminal records or pending criminal charges, according to the documents. Republicans, led by former President Trump, have zeroed in on the release of migrants who have recently crossed the border as a national security danger, and have highlighted crimes committed by immigrants in the U.S. 🏛️ Between the lines: The Biden administration repeatedly has asked Congress for more money to address the border — to no avail. Republicans — egged on by Trump, who wants to campaign on the issue — recently killed a bipartisan border deal months in the making. As Republicans continue to demand more detentions and deportations, ICE is having to make plans to cut back. Meanwhile, thousands more desperate people cross the border every day.

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Did Biden Secretly Fly 320K Unvetted Migrants to American Airports in 2023?

On March 4, 2024, the claim that the Biden administration had secretly flown 320,000 migrants into the U.S. in 2023 went viral. That claim originated from a report by the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative think tank. The report, and its assertions, gained significant exposure when the Daily Mail covered it and Elon Musk shared the Daily Mail article on X (formerly known as Twitter). Former U.S. President Donald Trump also repeated the claim in his Super Tuesday victory speech on March 5, 2024.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2024/03/07/320000-unvetted-migrants/?

ps:Of course the same people each time try to spread the same "Bull Manure" to all that will listen!!!!!

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Did Trump Call for Mass Detentions and Deportations of Latinos?

The former president addressed the illegal immigration problem during a March 2024 campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2024/03/05/trump-mass-detentions-deportations/?

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Katie Britt used decades-old example of rapes in Mexico as an attack on Biden's border policy The Republican senator who gave the party’s response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address used a harrowing account of a young woman’s sexual abuse to attack his border policies, but the rapes did not happen in the U.S. or during the Biden administration. Read more.

Recent developments: Britt has made immigration one of her top issues in her first years in the Senate, and Republicans have seized on a surge of immigrants entering the country during Biden’s term to attack the president.   The victim has previously spoken publicly about the abuse happening in her home country of Mexico from 2004 to 2008 — not in the United States, and not during the Biden administration. Yet Britt used the account to chastise Biden’s actions on the border.   Asked by Fox News Sunday if she had meant to give the impression that the trafficking and rape in question happened during the Biden administration, Britt said “No.” She said she had recounted the victim’s story to “bring some light to” sex trafficking by cartels.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ 2 National Guard soldiers, 1 Border Patrol agent killed in Texas helicopter crash are identified   Trump blasts Biden over Laken Riley’s death after Biden says he regrets using term ‘illegal’   How Black women coined the ‘say her name’ rallying cry before Biden’s State of the Union address

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👀 Focus groups: Trump's border blame

Wisconsin swing voters largely blame Republicans — and specifically Trump — for Congress' failure to pass bipartisan legislation to help improve border security, Axios' Eugene Scott writes from our latest Engagious/Sago focus group.

Why it matters: Interviews with voters who backed Trump in 2016 and flipped to Biden in 2020 suggest the president's State of the Union speech left them feeling that Trump's GOP is more responsible for Washington's lack of action.

What they're saying: Nine of the 13 voters said they were upset with Trump for blocking efforts to find a solution to the country's immigration problem.

• "I think [Trump] wants to come in and try to show everybody that he saved the day by passing a bill — and so he's sabotaging Biden's opportunity," Hannah H. said.
• "He should have no say right now. He's not in office of any sorts," Brandon M. said.

Context: The border plan negotiated by Republican and Democratic senators was deemed dead on arrival after Trump said he opposed it — and made clear he wanted to campaign on the chaos at the border.

Keep reading

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Texas’ migrant arrest law is back on hold after briefly taking effect Texas’ plans to arrest migrants suspected of entering the United States illegally were again placed on hold Wednesday after setting off uncertainty along the border. Anger from Mexico also flared during the brief few hours that the law was allowed to take effect. Read more.

Recent developments: During the short time the law was in effect, Texas authorities did not announce that any arrests had been made or say whether it was being actively enforced. But news of the ruling spread rapidly and triggered alarm among migrant advocates.   On Tuesday, Mexico’s secretary of foreign affairs said in a sharply worded statement that the country would refuse to take back anyone who is ordered to leave under the state law and that it “categorically rejects” any state or local government enforcement of immigration laws.   The impact extends far beyond the Texas border. Republican legislators wrote the law so that it applies in all of the state’s 254 counties, and other GOP-led states are already looking to follow Texas’ path.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Gov. Sanders deploys Arkansas National Guard to support southern border control efforts   Biden tells Latino voters they’re the reason he defeated Trump in 2020 and says, ‘I need you back’   House Republicans demand answers on gag order for union of immigration judges

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As Texas border arrests law teeters in court, other GOP states also push tougher immigration policy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican lawmakers across the country were already jockeying to push their states deeper into immigration enforcement when the Supreme Court, if only briefly, let Texas enforce a new law giving police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the border illegally.

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-texas-deportation-laws-iowa-cd2562952c6a856bccbc568bc55ab298?

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Border nuclear option

President Biden is still considering harsh executive actions at the border before November's election, Axios' Stef Kight has learned.

Why it matters: Any new surge in border numbers could add urgency for what one administration official described as the nuclear option.

• "The bullet's in the chamber," said another source familiar with the planning.
• Border numbers fell in January and only ticked up slightly in February, but crossings historically rise in the spring and summer.
• "No executive action, no matter how aggressive, can deliver the significant policy reforms and additional resources Congress can provide and that Republicans rejected," a White House spokesperson told Axios.

Between the lines: The White House opted against announcing new executive actions in the run-up to or during the State of the Union address this month.

• Internal conversations continue about expanding the president's authority on the border, according to multiple sources.
• Biden seized on the failed bipartisan border deal during his address to Congress, slamming Republicans and former President Trump.

The bottom line: Using a section of U.S. code called 212f to crack down on people illegally crossing the border would be legally risky — courts intervened in a similar effort under the Trump administration.

• It's one reason why the White House has urged Congress to pass a bipartisan border deal that would provide similar powers but with more solid legal footing.
• "The president has limited authority. He can't invent new resources. He can't change asylum law," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who was a key negotiator for the border deal, told Axios.

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Why Trump’s alarmist message on immigration may be resonating beyond his base

WASHINGTON (AP) — The video shared by former President Donald Trump features horror movie music and footage of migrants purportedly entering the U.S. from countries including Cameroon, Afghanistan and China. Shots of men with tattoos and videos of violent crime are set against close-ups of people waving and wrapping themselves in American flags.

https://apnews.com/article/border-immigration-trump-biden-rhetoric-2024-election-327c08045edcc200f850d893de6a79d6?

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How a 100-year-old law changed American immigration policy until this day

(JTA) — In May 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed legislation, known as the Johnson-Reed Act, that severely restricted the number of immigrants by putting quotas on their country of origin, and completely excluded immigrants from Asia.

https://www.jta.org/2024/04/07/ideas/how-a-100-year-old-law-changed-american-immigration-policy-till-this-day?

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🚨 Scoop! Biden plans border order

President Biden used an interview with Spanish-language broadcaster Univision to send a massive signal that he plans to issue an executive order to dramatically limit the number of asylum-seekers who can cross the southern border.

• I'm told that while it's not final, such an executive order is likely by the end of April.

Why it matters: We're told there's a fierce debate internally about the legality and politics of a Trump-like lockdown. But Biden, briefed on polls of rising voter anger, wants a dramatic step.

🔍 Between the lines: The provision Biden is eyeing would restrict the ability of immigrants to claim asylum, and doesn't require congressional approval, Axios reported in February.

• Biden would use authority in Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which gives the president broad leeway to block entry of certain immigrants if it would be "detrimental" to U.S. national interests.
• He'd be taking a page from former President Trump, who has repeatedly leaned on that section.

"We're examining whether or not I have that power," Biden told Univision's Enrique Acevedo in an interview taped last week that aired last night.

• "Some are suggesting that I should just go ahead and try it," Biden said. "And if I get shut down by the court, I get shut down by the court."
• Biden said there's "no guarantee" he has the power to take action on the border without legislation from Congress.

But he plans to lean in.

• Watch the interview.

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Iowa governor signs bill that gives state authority to arrest and deport some migrants

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — It will be a state crime for a person to be in Iowa if previously denied admission to or removed from the United States under a bill signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds on Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/article/iowa-immigrants-deportation-956d49ea4d092a3934ee32bab48b479c?

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Border "nuclear option"

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

President Biden's road to a dramatic executive order to stem illegal border crossings — expected within weeks — has dragged out for months as he prepares for legal challenges, political backlash and enforcement shortages, Axios' Stef W. Kight and Hans Nichols report. Why it matters: With Republicans making the border a top 2024 issue, Biden has been trying to find the right language to impose a crackdown without getting instantly shut down by courts — or facing open revolt by his progressive base. Another big concern is that an executive order without the money to implement it wouldn't be effective. If Biden pulls the trigger, he'd rely on the same section of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, 212(f), that former President Trump used against immigration — including his so-called Muslim ban. A Biden administration official called that the "nuclear option" for the border. 🔎 Between the lines: To truly strengthen border security, Biden needs something only Congress can provide — money to hire more U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and other reinforcements. 🧮 By the numbers: The average number of daily crossings is about half what it was during December's surge, according to recent internal government statistics obtained by Axios. But crossings typically jump during the spring and summer, which could put more pressure on Biden to take action to lower numbers and avoid a new string of GOP attacks. Flashback: Trump's executive actions on immigration faced constant litigation. When he leveraged 212(f) to block illegal border crossings, a federal judge ultimately blocked the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing it. 🥊 Reality check: It's already against the law for asylum seekers and other immigrants to cross the southwest border anywhere other than the designated, legal entry points. Biden already has used his executive power to automatically reject asylum seekers who cross the border illegally and do not first seek protections in a country they passed through. The bottom line: Harsh executive policies do little to fix the U.S. immigration system's outdated infrastructure, cash-needy federal agencies and overwhelmed border officials.

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Chicago’s response to migrant influx stirs longstanding frustrations among Black residents Chicago is one of several big cities grappling with a surge of migrants, an issue exacerbated by the Republican governor of Texas’ busing of migrants from the southern U.S. border to highlight his grievances with the Biden administration’s immigration policy. The city has spent over $300 million to provide help to mostly South American migrants, which many Chicagoans say is a reminder of years of unsolved problems, including high rates of crime, unemployment and homelessness. Read more.

Why this matters: The speed with which funds were marshaled has stirred widespread resentment among Black Chicagoans. Many leaders in Black neighborhoods in and around Chicago are trying to strike a balance between acknowledging the tensions without exacerbating them.   The outcry over migrants in Chicago and other large Democrat-led cities is having wider implications in an election year. The Biden administration is now advocating a more restrictive approach to immigration in its negotiations with Republicans in Congress.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Puerto Rico Republicans award Trump all 23 of their delegates   A crush of lawsuits over voting in multiple states is creating a shadow war for the 2024 election   Dubious claims about voting flyers at a migrant camp show how the border is inflaming US politics

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Migrants Get Visas for Being 'Victims' of Ron DeSantis

The roughly four dozen migrants that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis helped fly from Texas to Martha's Vineyard about a year and a half ago have been granted legal designations due to the Republican's crimes against the "victims."

https://www.newsweek.com/desantis-migrants-marthas-vineyard-visas-1892919

ps:Praise the Lord!!

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💼 New immigration reality

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

Plummeting fertility rates and major demographic shifts are expected to slow U.S. population growth in the years ahead — and America needs a steady flow of immigrants to offset that hit to the economy, Axios' Courtenay Brown reports. Why it matters: It's a fresh collision of two contentious issues — immigration policy and economic growth — that'll continue to shape political debates for decades. 🔎 Zoom in: President Biden is facing widespread voter discontent around the border crisis and the economy. Yet high immigration rates have played a notable role in offsetting inflation. Policymakers say the mass immigration of recent years helped heal the labor market imbalance and helped bring inflation down from the 2021-2022 surge. 🔮 What to watch: Beginning in 2040, immigrants will account for all of population growth "in part because fertility rates remain below the rate that would be required for a generation to replace itself in the absence of immigration," the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects. "There is a sense in which immigration is now offsetting the decline in fertility," CBO director Phillip Swagel told Congress earlier this year. Go deeper.

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Where Dems are embracing Trump's narrative

Data: The Harris Poll. Chart: Axios Visuals Surprising percentages of Democrats are expressing support for some of Trump's immigration plans, a major problem for President Biden, Stef reports. The big picture: 53% of Democrats said there is a real crisis at the border, rather than it being a politically-driven media narrative, according to a new Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll. 59% said "illegal" immigration was a problem. 30% would at least somewhat support "ending automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S." 42% would support mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, another Trump plan. Between the lines: Of Democrats who said illegal immigration was a problem, 40% said they think so because it "undermines the rule of law" and is unfair to people who arrive legally. A quarter cited migrants bringing drugs and committing crimes — a narrative repeatedly pushed by Republicans, despite little to no evidence. The bottom line: The survey results point to a chasm between how people view immigrants who cross the border illegally versus those who use legal pathways. Go deeper: See the methodology ... America warms to mass deportations