Biden Negotiations with GOP on Restrictive Immigration Changes Angers Key Latino Voting Block, Progressive-Leftist Democrats

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12/14/2023
Source: texasinsider
12/14/2023

Joe Biden points his finger to emphasize a point while speaking. by is licensed under

Hispanic Legislators warn of political payback if Biden strikes Border Deal

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat and one of the most senior Hispanics on Capitol Hill, said it was “shameful” for Joe Biden to even be entertaining – let alone be negotiating with Congressional Republicans – on new U.S. Border controls as part of Mr. Biden’s attempt to win a $106 billion National Security Spending Bill.

Menendez is also the Senator about which CNN wrote recently:

"Political walls are closing in on Sen. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat under a federal indictment accusing him of corruption-related offenses."

Exposing the growing rift within the Democrat Party that's threatening to weaken an already floundering 2024 Biden Re-Election Campaign, Sen. Menendez said blasted Mr. Biden during a Press Conference held in front of the U.S. Capitol Building, saying the way the White House has handled the potential border security negotiations on Capitol Hill was an insult to Latinos.

“Instead of honoring requests to meet with House and Senate members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to strategize on a reasonable and effective path forward to address our challenges at the border, the White House ignored us," said Menendez.

"It's a slap in the face for the Latino and immigrant communities that we represent,” he said.

Hispanic Democrats held a press conference Wednesday to blast Mr. Biden for leaving them out of the negotiations, with Mr. Menendez comparing that to negotiating changes to the Voting Rights Act without consulting Black Democrats.

He said the president risks going down in history as the "Asylum Denier in Chief" – a call back to when President Barack Obama got labeled the "Deporter in Chief" by various immigration groups.

The anger erupted after a handful of major news outlets reported that the White House was negotiating with GOP leaders over new border control measures as part of Biden’s last-minute effort to pass his $106 billion Israel, Ukraine, and other national security issues spending bill.

The White House had said it could sign a bill that included new powers to expel illegal immigrants, rather than allow them to file some sort of asylum claim – the practice of which has come under increased public scrutiny as the Biden Open-Border Policies overload and strain many of the Democrat-run major cities across the country.

For a president already facing slippage among some Democrats for his backing of Israel in its war with Hamas, opening another internal party war with young voters and Hispanics could be costly.

The White House had reportedly signaled it might not only be willing to revive an expulsion authority similar to the Title 42 Policy during the negotiations, but also would entertain faster deportations and more detention of illegal immigrants.

Both of those would be significant reversals for the president, who has shut down detention facilities and refused to enforce many of the nation's laws regarding deportations.

Mr. Biden included $14 billion to improve migrant processing in his $106 billion national security proposal, hoping the money would be enough to entice Republicans concerned about the record surge of illegal immigrants, terrorism suspects and fentanyl.

It wasn’t enough – but the link for Sen. Bob Menendez and other House and Senate Hispanics on Capitol Hill had been made.

“The U.S. border was a part of the president’s original request, so it’s been viewed – at least by some in the White House – that this ought to be part of this overall effort,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Specifically, the White House had indicated it would support a new, far-reaching legal authority to allow U.S. Border Officials to summarily expel migrants without processing their asylum claims.

Moreover, the Biden White House would be willing to mandate the detention of certain migrants who are allowed into the country pending the adjudication of their claims.

The administration would also back a nationwide expansion of a process known as "expedited removal" that allows Immigration Officials to deport migrants without court hearings if they don't ask for asylum.or if they fail their initial asylum interviews. The program is currently limited to the southern border region.

Administration officials have also previously indicated a willingness to raise the initial screening standard for so-called "credible fear interviews" that migrants have to pass to avoid being deported under expedited removal.

"Destroying the asylum system will not fix the southern border," said Democrat Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (right,) on Tuesday.

Prior to being elected to Congress, where she has become a controversial but leading Democrat voice on a number of contentious issues, Jayapal founded a group called "Hate Free Zone" following the September 11th attacks. It was to serve as an advocacy group for immigrant groups, while registering new American citizens to vote and lobby on immigration reform and other similar issues.

"We did not spend years fighting this agenda under Trump only to give in to Senate Republicans' extreme demands now," Jayapal said of Biden's negotiations.

The administration's openness to negotiate restrictive immigration changes has angered migrant advocates, as well as progressive-leftist Democrats & Latino lawmakers who have urged the White House and Senate Democrats to refrain from agreeing to any type of permanent asylum restrictions.

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Biden Negotiations with GOP on Restrictive Immigration Changes Angers Key Latino Voting Block, Progressive-Leftist Democrats

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