Biden might be regretting 'surge to the border' debate response as some Dems balk, analysts say
Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman recently said the border influx is similar to the population of Pittsburgh arriving monthly.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden might finally be regretting his 2019 debate assertion that migrants who want to come to the United States should "immediately surge to the border" and that they "deserve to be heard."
"We're a nation that says if you want to flee and you're afraid of oppression, you should come," he said in the ABC News forum.
Former George W. Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen told Fox News on Thursday Biden "got what he asked for" as hundreds of thousands of migrants and illegal immigrants have been encountered by federal border officials on a monthly basis.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Thiessen cited how some Democrats are beginning to balk at the state of the Mexican border under Biden.
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A new NBC News reports details the "Anger" Democrats are starting to feel over President Joe Bidens border policies. (Photo by Katie McTiernan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images | Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images )
Progressive darling Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said last week the USCBP's 270,000-in-September figure is like the equivalent of his entire home city of Pittsburgh crossing into the United States every month.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fetterman called on Democrats to engage with the GOP on the matter, saying he hopes his party will understand that border control talk is not necessarily "xenophobic."
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., questioned Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on the matter in November, comparing the border to a sold-out football game that continues to let spectators in.
"Can we just say we're filled up right now and we cannot have any more seats?" asked Manchin.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker also bemoaned the influx of migrants in October, calling the situation "untenable" for his state.
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On "The Story," Thiessen also pointed to New York Mayor Eric Adams and New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul beginning to call attention to the porous border.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Thiessen added that Democrats should latch on to Republicans' calls for border control legislation as a way to tease out the truth about claims President Biden cares more about Ukraine's border than his own country's — given that congressional Democrats have balked at the idea of tying Ukraine aid to border security measures.
"The most powerful argument that the anti-Ukraine Republicans make is Joe Biden cares more about Ukraine's borders than our own, and so the reason that's powerful is because it's been true," he said.
"He has cared more about Ukraine's borders — and we're a superpower. We can secure our border and also lead in the world, but Joe Biden now gets a chance to prove either they're right or they're wrong."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Biden and Democrats can either declare Republicans are wrong and come to the negotiating table — or the president can continue to refuse GOP overtures, endanger further Ukraine aid and prove them right, the former Bush aide said.
Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum reported that there are rumblings of a return to a Title 42-type border control directive in time for the 2024 elections.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to a recent PBS report, private talks have begun regarding potentially permitting DHS officials to halt migrant asylum requests when total daily crossings surpass 5,000, as well as new approaches to remove unapproved asylees in the United States for less than two years.
MacCallum noted such plans appear similar to the border control policies of former President Trump, of whose directives Biden pledged to reverse.