The United States needs to signal to enemies that we stand by stalwart allies, including Israel and Taiwan. And House Republicans threaten to deny them all, handing despots and terrorists victories, in refusing to move ahead on the supplemental spending bill.
President Biden has faced down intransigent, radical MAGA Republicans before on everything from the bipartisan infrastructure bill to the debt ceiling. He can do so again — not by capitulating to the MAGA extremists’ unworkable immigration proposals but by working on a bipartisan deal with everyone else.
To be certain, the MAGA proposals are unacceptable. Politico reported: “Their latest offer would ban the administration’s ability to extend parole for migrants — a policy change that would also apply to Afghans and Ukrainians who have been authorized to live in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons.” In addition, “Republicans are also looking to restrict the administration’s parole authority to release migrants from detention, and would require mandatory electronic monitoring for anyone, including children, who are not detained. They are also trying to implement a so-called transit ban and establish nationwide, expedited removal authority — a return to a Trump-era policy that the Biden administration rescinded in 2021.”
Critics of the GOP proposal argue that it would return to Trump-era policies including mechanisms to rapidly expel immigrants without processing asylum claims. (“The Biden administration has also reportedly said it would support expanding an existing legal authority known as ‘expedited removal’ to rapidly deport undocumented immigrants who do not request asylum or who fail their initial asylum screenings, without a hearing,” Vox reported. “Under the expansion, the US would be able to subject immigrants anywhere in the US to expedited removal, beyond the 100-mile perimeter of the border in which the authority currently applies.”)
That does not mean Biden should reject any immigration proposal. Biden, contrary to critics, has never been in favor of “open borders.” In fact, early in his administration, he made a proposal for comprehensive immigration reform that would include ample funding for border security.
Moreover, in his original supplemental offer, he asked for additional money for the border. That would fund efforts to stop cartels from moving fentanyl into the United States, hire 1,000 additional border officers and equip the border with “cutting-edge detection technology, in particular Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) systems to enhance inspection capabilities, including fentanyl detection).” And, recall, the administration kept in place the covid-era Title 42 to clamp down on border crossings.
Now might be the time for a compromise, to the chagrin of the far left and far right. With some compromise of asylum processing (together with ample money to pay for more administrative judges) and a healthy dollop of border security funding, Biden could tell his left flank: “Hey, I had to do something on the border to get aid for Ukraine and the rest.” Republicans (other than the MAGA extremists who would prefer an unsolved issue to a bipartisan compromise) could tell their voters, “Hey, I had to do something on Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan — but look what I got for the border!”
Biden could therefore rescue Ukraine from the jaws of defeat, reinforce our role as a guarantor of democracies threatened by aggressive regimes and mute a criticism on what is arguably the weakest part of his record: border security. To help secure independents’ and soft Republicans’ votes for Biden in 2024, it would not be the worst thing to have the extreme left to be hollering at him.
Pragmatic politics entails some disagreeable compromises. As the New York Times reported, “Mr. Biden’s aides say he is trying to find a compromise to secure financial aid that Ukraine needs to win the war against Russia. They say Mr. Biden’s approach is not comparable to that of Mr. Trump, who separated thousands of families at the border.” His spokesperson reiterated that “the White House’s strategy is consistent with Mr. Biden’s approach in past negotiations on Capitol Hill.”
There is little reason for Biden to refuse to bargain at all on immigration. That wouldn’t do our allies — or his reelection chances — any good. And if he can pull off a deal, he can add one more bipartisan achievement to his list of wins.
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