Solidarity among Democrats is generally a given. Dems march in lockstep like the Borg Collective on Star Trek. Now there’s a chink in their armor, and the Biden border fiasco threatens to crack it open.
On Tuesday, 14 House Democrats backed a resolution denouncing President Biden’s open border policy, according to The Hill. The resolution passed with a 226-193 vote. Thirteen members failed to cast a vote.
Though 187 Democrats voted against the resolution, the fact that 14 fell out of step with their comrades is a sure sign that the border crisis has turned into such a nightmare that moderate Democrats can no longer ignore it.
14 Democrats vote for resolution denouncing Biden border policy https://t.co/zU9Kw6p4Fh
— The Hill (@thehill) March 13, 2024
A recent Gallup poll found that illegal immigration is the top concern with voters heading into the 2024 election cycle. Twenty-eight percent of those polled checked “immigration” as “the most important problem facing this country today.” This makes the first time since 2019 that immigration has topped the list of voter concerns.
Gallup isn’t alone. A Wall Street Journal poll also found immigration to be the top voter concern, with the economy coming in second. A Fox News poll showed that 66 percent of voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of immigration.
The resolution condemning Biden’s border policies was led by GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz of Texas, the Hill reported. The measure accused Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of creating “the worst border security crisis in the Nation’s history,” and contended the president “systematically dismantled effective border security measures and interior immigration enforcement.”
The measure also said Biden “purposely violated United States immigration law” with his “open borders agenda.”
Is not securing the border Biden’s biggest failure?
Moderate Democrats are feeling pressure to do something about the border crisis. They are pressuring Biden to enact stricter border controls now that congressional negotiations for border security have stalled.
Last month, Biden backed a Senate bill that included some border security reforms, but the bill was rejected by House Republicans as too weak. Negotiations have ground to a halt in recent weeks.
Swing-district members on both sides of the aisle are trying to find ways to convince their parties to solve the border security problem. The solution, however, is in Biden’s hands. He could go a long way in securing the border overnight by picking up a pen and signing his name.
Biden could use his executive authority to end “catch-and-release,” speed up the removal of illegal immigrants and tighten the asylum system. Refusing to do so, Biden attempts to shift blame by claiming congressional action is required to secure the border.
Members on both sides of the aisle in the House are now calling Biden out. Over 20 House Democrats launched a border security task force on Tuesday. The task force was formed to debate and lobby for border security policy. Democrat co-chair of the task force, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, also voted for the House measure criticizing Biden along with some of his task force colleagues.
The border is consistently one of the most important voter concerns in 2024. And yet Biden refuses to take executive action because he and his progressive base want to keep the border open as long as they possibly can.
The border has already been open too long. Biden’s failure to act to secure the border is one more reason he is unfit to be president and should be voted out of office in November.
