A new development in the immigration debate may signal change on the horizon. Democrats, it seems, are finally ready to get behind stricter enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws. But, as always, there’s a caveat – their support of increased border security must be tied to reforming the overall system.
Democrats Change Their Tune, If Only Slightly
In an interview on NewsNation’s The Hill Sunday, Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-NM), was asked by host Chris Stirewalt regarding immigration: “Are Democrats ready to embrace the enforcement side? Do you hear, when you talk to your fellow Democrats, there is a willingness and readiness to accept the enforcement side of the equation?”
“Democrats are ready,” Vasquez answered.
Before getting too excited or upset, depending on where you stand on the issue, consider the rest of his answer. “So yes, border security has to be the foundation of our plan moving forward,” he continued, “but you also can’t do that without immigration reform and without consideration for the American economy.”
“The truth is, we need all of those things to work together in order for us to give the American people what they want, which is a fair and humane process, a secure border,” the lawmaker added.
Vasquez represents the Land of Enchantment’s second district, which sits along the nation’s southern border and is far from a safe bet for the Democratic Party come election day. And he isn’t alone among legislators from swing districts and states that butt up against Mexico. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) represents the Lone Star State’s 28th district – another border district that many think could be in danger of flipping to the GOP.
In July of this year, Rep. Cuellar voiced his support for President Donald Trump’s Stryker battalion deployment to Laredo, TX, to aid in surveillance and security operations at the border. He said during an appearance on NewsNation that the US economy ceases to work without “undocumented” immigrants, especially where agriculture and construction jobs are concerned. But he also expressed readiness to work with congressional Republicans and the president on border security.
A coalition of congressional Democrats released an immigration and border security framework in August, outlining a path for Congress to secure the border and reform the immigration system. The group called for DHS to make sure Customs and Border Protection has no fewer than 22,000 agents, as well as increasing the number of said officers at ports of entry by at least 500.
But they have their own list of demands to go along with that newfound cooperation. Democrats insist on additional protections for DACA recipients and migrant workers to be part of any deal. Rep. Vasquez noted that the US workforce, especially in the western states, “has involved immigrant labor for many, many decades.”
“As we see these mass deportation rates, which are very draconian, and we know that the housekeepers and the restaurant workers and the construction workers who may not be here with the right documentation. Well, let’s give them the right documentation,” he added.
Just How Draconian Is the Status Quo?
Democrats often decry Trump’s “draconian” deportation practices – but does that description really hold up to scrutiny? So far in the president’s second term, from January 20 to July 31, there have been 235,916 “encounters” with illegals at the border and 145,419 deportations from ICE detention centers. There have in the same span also been 70,093 employment-based green cards issued and roughly 373,000 immigrants naturalized as US citizens.
So, yes, illegal border crossing attempts under President Trump’s second term are down considerably from Biden’s average of 2.1 million a year. In fact, this administration so far is shaping up to have fewer such encounters than those of Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, or even Trump’s own first term.
He hasn’t hit the level of average annual deportations yet for any of those administrations, however, aside from Joe Biden’s, which didn’t exactly set a high bar. He hasn’t yet issued as many green cards as any of those others, either – but when this year’s totals so far are added to his first term, he comes close to averaging more than Obama did per year. So what about the path to citizenship? Between his first term and the seven months of data available so far for this year, over a million more immigrants have been naturalized under Trump than under Biden’s watch.
So congressional Democrats may be changing their tune on border security ever so slightly, but there remains a good deal of partisan pandering going on. Still, strengthening the border is an idea whose time simply seems to have finally come around again.
