Many progressive Democrats are angry at Joe Biden’s executive order limiting asylum claims. The reason they hate it is because Donald Trump tried to do the same things.
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“I think it’s really disappointing,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal told Semafor. “[It] just plays into the idea that somehow harsh enforcement is going to work. That was Trump’s approach. We should be showing what the difference is.”
Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster, pointed out the obvious to Democrats like Jayapal who think America is pining for millions more illegal aliens.
“The reason why immigration matters so much to so many is that it is a living, breathing illustration of the failure of Washington to solve what everyone else in America sees as a crisis,” Luntz told the Associated Press Tuesday. “Biden‘s decision seems too little and too late. The public doesn’t think he cares, and therefore thinks he doesn’t get it.”
To review, Biden’s executive action would close the border to asylum seekers if the daily crossings reach 2,500 a day. But few Republicans believe that order will stem the flow of illegals because the same groups that killed a similar proposal from Trump are going to challenge it in court.
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“This executive order from Biden can only be understood as a pro-invasion, pro-illegal migration executive order,” said Stephen Miller, former top aide to Donald Trump.
Despite the slim chance that the executive order will ever be fully implemented, progressives are attacking Biden for not embracing illegal aliens.
“You can build a wall as high as you want. You can make it hard to receive asylum if you want. It’s not going to sustainably reduce the number of people wanting to come to the United States for a number of reasons until you identify and address root causes,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) told Semafor.
Even Democrats see Biden’s move as a cynical political ploy.
“We shouldn’t fall into the trap that Republicans have set for us,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, told Semafor. “It’s going to not help the President politically because I don’t think Fox News is ever going to give him any credit.”
Still, other Democrats praised Biden’s move as a necessary measure to respond to voters’ concerns and gain control of a southern border that has at times been chaotic in recent years.
“The president is saying that, ‘I hear you, I know this is an issue, and I’m taking action,’” said Rep. Tom Suozzi, who has helped form a group of House Democrats focused on border security.
Suozzi, who won a special election in New York this year with a campaign that called for tougher immigration enforcement measures, also called for action to help immigrants who are already in the country.
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It’s not just Biden. The rhetoric coming from Democratic mayors in big cities sounds more Republican than Democratic all the time. It’s proving that sanctimonious pronouncements on your love for immigrants in sanctuary cities are only political pablum. When push comes to shove, most Americans are in favor of some limits on legal immigration and have no tolerance for illegal immigration.