Republicans gamble on immigration as election nears
US IMMIGRATION reform has become the focus of a high-stakes political battle, with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump locking horns over one of the hottest issues of the 2024 election.
With the White House race looking almost certain to be a rematch of 2020, the Republican has been hammering his Democratic successor over record numbers of undocumented migrants at the southern border.
Senators are working to unveil one of the harshest immigration bills in decades, containing significant restrictions that Biden has committed to signing into law – that could include Republican priorities such as temporary border shutdowns and an end to the “catch and release” of migrants.
But they’re hitting a major roadbump: Trump has an iron grip on Republicans leading the House of Representatives, and – unwilling to hand Biden a win before November’s election – has sworn to kill the deal.
“There is zero chance I will support this horrible open borders betrayal of America,” Trump, who is close to securing the Republican presidential nomination, said in a speech in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Biden ran on restoring “humanity” to immigration – ending controversial Trump-era policies that led to families being separated at the US-Mexico border.
But Republicans dismiss Biden’s term as a failure, pointing to statistics showing “migrant encounters” – when a border agent picks up an illegal migrant after they’ve crossed into the US – reaching a record high of 302 000
in December. For months, polling has shown Americans see the migrant crisis among their top concerns – and blame Democrats for the surge.
A cornerstone of the 2016 campaign that propelled him to the White House, Trump is leaning on illegal immigration once again to energise his base.
Biden has indicated his openness to “massive changes” to address the border crisis.
However, Mike Johnson – the speaker of the House, who says he talks frequently with Trump – has been laying the groundwork to reject the agreement. |