Centrist Democrats and those up for reelection in November are taking a hint from polls that show the public is upset with the administration’s handling of the border, urging them to inch away from President Joe Biden.
Over the past several weeks, seven Senate Democrats have come out against the Biden administration’s plan to terminate Title 42, a pandemic public health authority used to turn away the majority of illegal immigrants who come across the southern border.
Biden announced earlier this month that Title 42 would be rescinded on May 23. In the two years that it has been in effect, the United States has expelled 1.6 million people through the authority, though some were turned away more than once.
But homeland security officials anticipate as many as 18,000 people a day could be encountered trying to enter the U.S. in the six weeks after Title 42 ends. The possibility is both an optics nightmare for Democrats and a national security concern.
More than half, 56%, of poll respondents oppose ending Title 42, according to an April 6 Morning Consult/Politico survey. The results make Biden’s decision his “most unpopular decision so far.”
Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire lives in a northern border state but visited the southern border in Arizona this past week, where she found that the Border Patrol still lacks the resources, including sufficient personnel, to manage the challenges resulting from the spike in illegal immigration at the start of the Biden administration.
“Our frontline personnel need significant, additional numbers, people, on the ground at the border. They need more technology. They need access roads and, in some places, they need physical barriers,” Hassan told local news outlet News-9. “The administration really needs to step up here, develop a plan and get more resources to the southern border.”
BORDER CITY WARNS BIDEN: ‘NO AMOUNT OF PREPARATION’ WILL LIMIT TITLE 42 DISASTER
Hassan was one of five Democrats — Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Jon Tester of Montana, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Mark Kelly of Arizona — to co-introduce legislation blocking the Biden administration’s attempt to end Title 42. The bill would require a 60-day notice before ending it, as well as a plan submitted to Congress explaining how the government will handle it.
Six House Democrats, including Rep. Henry Cuellar from Texas, have introduced similar legislation.
“Arizona communities bear the brunt of the federal government’s failure at our border, so we’re stepping in and protecting border communities by ensuring the Administration works hand-in-hand with local leaders, law enforcement, and non-profits to put a comprehensive, workable plan in place before lifting Title 42,” said Sinema, chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Border Management, in a statement.
Hassan and Kelly are up for reelection and face close races, according to RealClearPolitics polling averages.
Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada have also called out the Biden administration for taking action without enough planning. The move is significant for Cortez Masto since she came out strongly against Title 42 when former President Donald Trump imposed it two years ago.
“This is the wrong way to do this and it will leave the administration unprepared for a surge at the border,” Cortez Masto said in a statement. “We should be working to fix our immigration system by investing in border security and treating immigrant families with dignity. Instead, the administration is acting without a detailed plan.”
Warnock said that while he “believes in protecting the humanity of migrants,” the administration needs to put forth a comprehensive plan that addresses border security, infrastructure, and humanitarian and legal resources.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement in early April listing bullet points of how it was preparing to end Title 42, but lawmakers said it would not suffice.
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Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said the Democrats are “just wrong,” adding in a conversation with Roll Call this week that “Title 42 is not the solution — it’s part of the problem.”
