The Democratic party had a challenging Thanksgiving, realizing in retrospect that their approach to border security played a significant role in their 2024 defeat. President Biden’s management of the border crisis sparked public dissatisfaction, contributing to a sweeping Republican victory over the White House and both legislative chambers. High-ranking Democrats and their aides finally confessed after Donald Trump’s distinct victory over Biden’s successor, Vice President Kamala Harris, that their lax approach to border regulations was a key factor in their downfall.
The acknowledgment came following the backlash Biden faced around his interactions with US Customs and Border Protection police at the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso, Texas on January 8, 2023. A Democratic senator confessed, ‘Our failure with the immigration issue was both predictable and preventable. We fumbled with that issue, including within our Democratic caucus. That’s political negligence. We can’t simply blame others or claim we were coerced.’
The situation was further exemplified by the views expressed by people close to New York City Mayor Eric Adams. He had been sounding the alarm for two years about the potential pitfalls of a lax border security policy, predicting that it would overburden cities and isolate working-class individuals. However, his fellow Democrats turned a blind eye to his warnings.
A source from the Democrat camp indicated that they need to ‘return to the basics and openly acknowledge to the American people that crime and illegal immigration are wrong.’ During his campaign, Trump expressed intentions to implement a large-scale deportation process, mainly targeted towards criminals, a move that was laudably supported by a majority of Hispanic voters, according to polls.
On the other hand, Kamala Harris, 60, proclaimed herself as a ‘border-state prosecutor’ and expressed her disappointment in congressional Republicans for their lack of cooperation in passing a comprehensive immigration reform package. Five Senate Democrats also aided in sinking the package. She evaded questions about her prior support for decriminalization of illegal border crossings and providing government-funded healthcare to detained immigrants.
Contrarily, President Biden overturned Trump’s strict border and asylum protocols, which led to a spike in illegal immigration. Democrats have since admitted to Biden’s shortsighted policy. Despite this, Biden managed to secure majority votes from Hispanic male voters, based on exit polls, and even saw increased support from black men in pivotal swing states by proposing a series of economic reforms, such as tax exemptions on overtime pay and tips, along with tax deductions for domestic car loans.
Public opinion polls reflected a rising concern about immigration, almost rivaling the frustrations about the economy, high inflation, and soaring interest rates. These concerns played a significant role in catalyzing Trump’s political resurgence. Prior to the election, some Senate Democrats acknowledged the ill-effects of Biden’s border policies, which factored into Harris’ loss against Trump.
Matters were made worse when Biden named Harris to curb illegal immigration in early 2021, only for the problem to soar to unprecedented levels. A Democratic senator condemned Biden’s move to halt the construction of the US-Mexico border wall and end deportation policies. Significant players in Biden’s campaign brushed aside these underlying reservations about border security.
In 2023, Mayor Adams cautioned Biden’s future campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, that the avalanche of low-skill asylum seekers was causing distress among working-class black and Hispanic voters. Chavez dismissed Adams’ concerns at the time. Now, looking back, the fallout is clear, and the demand to rectify the flawed immigration system, as championed by Adams, is echoing among both Americans and New Yorkers.
Border transgressions peaked in December, recording approximately 302,000 incidents in that month, followed by some reduction after the president instated a policy to slow down asylum processing after reaching a certain quota. As time passed, a higher percentage of individuals intercepted at the border gained entry into the US to stake their claims in the backlogged asylum system.
The severity of the situation was emphasized in January when Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas disclosed that over 85% of those apprehended for illegally crossing the border were subsequently released into the US, a significant uptick from 71% in October and 74% in November of the previous year.
Republicans alleged that the administration manipulated numbers to seem less damaging, not only by releasing illegal crossers but by granting numerous asylum seekers entry through legal points of entry. This episode unearthed a chink in the Democrats’ progressive agenda, highlighting their struggles in handling critical national issues such as border security with prudence and efficacy.