Let me ask you a question: Which of the two presidential candidates, Donald Trump or Joe Biden, supports sealing the border with Mexico to prevent the access of undocumented immigrants?
Until a week ago, the answer was obvious: Donald Trump. The former president has made undocumented immigrants the scapegoat for his new presidential aspirations, with tough anti-migrant policies to court his core conservative supporters.
But last weekend something happened that would have been unthinkable in 2020: Joe Biden’s metamorphosis on the immigration issue.
Surprisingly, Biden promised to seal the border with Mexico if the number of arrivals of undocumented migrants is overwhelming.
Under the terms of the bill being negotiated in the Senate, it means the arrival of more than 5,000 people a day on average over the span of a week. The proposal includes speeding up the asylum process and issuance of work permits.
His decision is a case study in political expediency in an election year.
Aware that the crisis at the border – which has included a record arrival of undocumented people – is his greatest electoral vulnerability, Biden turned his back on his 2020 promises.
In the month of December alone, almost 250,000 illegal crossings of undocumented immigrants were recorded. On some days, the number exceeds the 10,000 mark. From any point of view, even from a humanitarian perspective, this is an unsustainable situation.
Also lacking are the resources to properly process these migrants, nor the facilities to house them, nor the willingness of other countries to accept them all back.
But the solution is not more restrictions, but more resources to rationalize the immigration process and establish sensible regulations in accordance with the absorption capacity of the United States and invest funds for development in sending countries.
Biden’s decision on immigration is a high-risk political bet. His courting of those concerned about the immigration crisis may also alienate his more progressive bases, who are already unenthusiastic about supporting Biden because of his policies in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Republicans don’t win a congruence contest either. After months of arguing that tough HR2 bill needs to be passed to resolve the border crisis, they now maintain that Biden does not need new legal authorities.
Behind the decision of the Republicans in the House of Representatives to boycott the Senate’s bipartisan agreement is the hand of Donald Trump, who has publicly asked not to support that agreement because he does not want to give Biden any victory in an election year.
This is the way of our political class. Let no one be surprised when surveys confirm that the institutions of the republic enjoy a healthy credibility deficit and that abstentionism becomes the new normality of the country’s political life.
