Polls have been showing for a while now that the border crisis is a huge political liability for Joe Biden. Because of this, the White House, the Democrats, and the media are now colluding to push the narrative that it's actually Republicans who are to blame for the border not being secure.
But now that the bipartisan border deal has collapsed spectacularly, Biden, still hoping he can wrestle this issue away from being a positive for Trump, is reportedly considering executive action to address what's happening at the southern border.
"The Biden administration is considering taking executive action to deter illegal migration across the southern border, according to two U.S. officials," reports NBC News. "As passing legislation on border security in Congress appears unlikely, the plans under consideration signal that the White House wants to take action before numbers at the border, which have dropped in the past month, rise again as expected."
The plans have been under consideration for months, the officials said. In December, as Congress prepared to leave town for the holidays with no border solution, illegal crossings of the southwest border hit records at more than 10,000 per day.
The unilateral measures under consideration might upset some progressives in Congress, the officials said, but they noted that Democratic mayors who have asked for more help from the federal government to handle the influx of migrants in their cities would be pleased. The measures are still being drafted and are not expected to take place any time soon.
Wait a second here. Biden is now considering executive action to secure the border? That's funny, because for three years now, Biden has repeatedly claimed that Congress had to do something about the border, and just last month, he insisted he had done all that he could to address it.
"I've done all I can do; just give me the power," Biden claimed. "I asked them the very day I got into office. Give me the Border Patrol. Give me the judges. Give me the people who can stop this."
This is absolutely wrong, of course. According to the Migration Policy Institute, he took nearly 300 executive actions on immigration during his first year in office alone, effectively reversing Trump's efforts to make it secure. With the help of Democrats in Congress, deportations were reduced, catch-and-release was reinstated, and Border Patrol agents were hamstrung.
Of course, others have pointed out plenty of times since then that Biden does indeed have the authority to secure the border. He just won't.
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"Here are just a few of the authorities at his disposal – if only he would use them,' House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pointed out. "Presidential Authority to Restrict Entry 212(f), Expedited Removal 235(b)(1), Discretionary Detention Authority 236(a), Mandatory Detention 236(c). No more excuses."
Of course, Biden doesn't actually want to prove that the Republicans were right, so he's considering some new executive action to make himself a hero. But in doing so, Biden has still conceded that the Republicans were right and that he does have the power to secure the border.
If Biden thinks this will give him the upper hand on the issue, I suspect he'll be disappointed. Acting now, months before the election yet having done nothing for three years, isn't likely to convince people that he actually wants to fix the problem instead of just making a political move.
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