Opinion | Biden’s Change on Immigration Admits the Obvious

“People in this country … have a basic, fundamental right to ensure that people who come in are checked out,” he explained. ”

Biden’s explicit statement drew angry criticism from Democratic activists. An immigration advocate called his new border policy “insensitive.” One human rights leader described it as a “humanitarian disgrace.” Critics seemed to imply that the very idea of ​​border control was morally wrong. Border security can be abused, but it is an essential requirement for a free and sovereign country.

Right-wingers also condemned the new coercive policies. That includes work permits for the 30,000 monthly immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who applied and were granted through an official portal, even though Biden has expanded restrictions on illegal immigration. This is due to the expansion of the two-year “parole” policy. financial sponsorship. For many MAGA activists, the right level of immigration is zero.

Biden literally didn’t want to go near the border, given how toxic the immigration issue has become for Democrats. I set foot in Hara. And frankly, it’s time for him to address this issue frankly.Other Democrats and Republicans should follow suit.

What Biden suggests is a trade-off. Border enforcement will be tougher. Penalties for illegal immigration have been tightened, and she will face expedited removal and a five-year re-entry ban if she attempts to enter the U.S. without legal authorization. At the same time, however, the parole process will be expanded to four countries, and Mexico will accept up to 30,000 immigrants a month from those countries who have attempted to enter the country illegally.

Asylum remains a moral and legal obligation under the new plan. However, asylum seekers who do not use legal channels through a third country face a “rebuttable presumption” that their claims are invalid. The central idea is that migration is essential, but should be more orderly and manageable.

This policy goes a little in either direction and no one is happy. My sense is that this is Biden’s home ground, right in the middle, taking potshots from both sides. , which is why his party performed surprisingly well in the midterm elections. In a dysfunctional political system, Mr. Biden managed to pull it off. It may look like he stumbles, but it’s usually uphill.

“I don’t want to pretend nothing is easy,” Mr. Biden said on Thursday about border enforcement. White House officials know that what they have announced is a temporary fix at best. Right now we have nothing but bad policies when it comes to immigration. There is nothing positive about this issue, but Biden still has to navigate a political quagmire.

What prompted the White House to craft a practical compromise on immigration was that protests against last year’s immigration surge were met not only by MAGA Republicans in Texas and Florida, but by Democratic politicians in California, Illinois, and New York. It was because it was getting more and more from. The White House concluded that this was not a question of left or right, but of whether to rule.

The administration’s new approach to immigration began last spring, with a daily rush of 1,000 Ukrainian refugees trying to cross the Mexican border. A similar application process was developed in October for Venezuelan refugees, who surged to 1,500 per day. Since then it has dropped to the hundreds.

In politics, people usually get credit for telling their followers what they want to hear. But it’s set back. Good government often means upsetting powerful constituencies and choosing the right, if unpopular, path. I don’t want to sell Biden’s immigration plan. I’m not trying to fix a shattered system. But those who demand safer and more effective border policies recognize that they are not morally flawed.