Smolens: An uphill fight for Democrats on border security

The notion that Democrats could turn border security around on Republicans may seem far-fetched.

But congressional Democrats have taken another step toward pushing a tougher stance on immigration enforcement and pressing their GOP counterparts to take action.

President Joe Biden and many Democrats in Congress continue to advocate for the bipartisan border enforcement bill stalled by Republicans in the Senate.

Democrats won’t likely take away the political advantage Republicans have on border matters, but their recent actions at the least seem aimed at mitigating it.

For years, Democrats have emphasized a welcoming, humanitarian approach to migrants in their proposals to overhaul the nation’s broken immigration system. They often treated border enforcement as an afterthought or avoided it entirely — at their peril, they have learned.

Increasingly, Democrats are taking border security head-on. They may have little choice because it’s not going away. Republicans have owned the issue for years, and polls say most Americans see the border as a serious problem and among the most important issues facing the country.

Last week, House Democrats announced the creation of the Democrats for Border Security task force. Many of the more than two dozen members are from border states and also happen to be facing potentially competitive elections in the fall.

Border communities, border agents and immigration facilities in the southern United States have been overwhelmed by large flows of asylum-seeking migrants. Much of the blame has been laid at the feet of Biden and, by extension, Democratic members of Congress.

It’s a societal and potential national security concern and, for Democrats, a big political problem. Creating a task force isn’t likely to do much by itself, but it adds to other recent efforts by Democrats.

For decades, Republicans have advocated tougher border security and crackdowns on illegal immigration. Earlier this year, Democratic leaders may have called their bluff by supporting bipartisan legislation loaded with stronger enforcement policies — and the money to carry them out.

The measure didn’t include the typical Democratic provisions opposed by many Republicans, such as a pathway to citizenship and establishing long-term legal residency for so-called “Dreamers” — immigrants who were brought into the country as children.

It wasn’t the entire GOP wishlist, but it was negotiated and had support from some top Republican senators, at least for a while. Then former President Donald Trump opposed the measure and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not bring it up for a vote regardless of what happened in the Senate. That killed its prospects.

Trump’s effect on Republican thinking was graphically illustrated in a Yahoo News/YouGov poll released last week. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans (64%) surveyed favored the border security bill — unless they were told that Trump opposed it, in which case GOP support plummeted to 34%.

Biden on several occasions, including in his State of the Union address, has called out Republican lawmakers and Trump for blocking the measure. Meanwhile, Democrats accused Republicans of scuttling the bill in a cynical ploy to keep the border in chaos — and a political problem for Biden.

Not all Democrats have embraced the party’s new emphasis on enforcement.

The bill proposes adding 1,500 U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel and 4,300 asylum officers — four times the current 1,000 asylum officers. The measure would increase the number of detention beds and provide more than $1 billion for states and communities that assist migrants.

Significantly, the bill would raise the bar for obtaining asylum and dramatically cut the time to determine who qualifies — allowing for quicker deportation of those who don't.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration seems intent on depicting Republicans as detrimental to border enforcement. NBC News ran a story earlier this month that said, “Scanners that spot smuggled fentanyl at the border sit unused because Congress hasn’t provided the cash.”

The kicker: “Money to install the screeners was in the supplemental funding request Republicans blocked.”

Troy Miller, the administration’s acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, told NBC that state-of-the-art high-tech scanners have been purchased but sit in warehouses for want of $300 million needed to “put the technology in the ground.”

“It’s extremely frustrating,” he said, adding that more than 95% of fentanyl seized at the border is brought into the U.S. in vehicles.

Republicans have blamed Biden’s border policies for not stopping fentanyl smuggling, saying that has contributed to the alarming increase in overdose deaths from the drug.

There’s a lot of talk about Democrats trying to change the political narrative on border enforcement. That won’t be easy. A late-January NBC News poll found that Trump has a 35-point advantage over Biden among voters asked who they believe would do a better job at “securing the border and controlling immigration.”

A key strategy in almost any confrontation, elections or otherwise, is to exploit an opponent’s weakness. But when their strength can’t be avoided, sometimes the only choice is to try to use it against them.

Come November, we’ll see if Democrats can pull off this political jujitsu.

Michael Smolens is a columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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