Prominent Latino Lawmakers Challenge Biden Administration in Border Policy Talks
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prominent Latinos in Congress have quietly raised concerns with the Biden administration over the direction of border security talks. Democratic senators Alex Padilla of California and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico have been vocal in their opposition to what they see as a lack of meaningful consideration for providing pathways to citizenship for longtime immigrants.
Padilla and Luján have been pressing the administration over the exclusion of pro-immigration changes, such as granting permanent legal status to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, and pushed for meetings with top-level White House officials.
“A return to Trump-era policies is not the fix,” Padilla said.
At a Congressional Hispanic Caucus news conference, Padilla, Luján, and Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey slammed Senate Republicans for demanding border policy changes in exchange for aid to Ukraine and criticized Biden for making concessions that they say ultimately undermine the United States’ standing as a country that welcomes immigrants.
The Biden administration has increasingly come under criticism over its handling of border and immigration issues, from both Republicans and members of the president’s own party.
The negotiation, which intensified last Saturday at the Capitol, come as the Biden administration has been under fire for record numbers of people arriving at the U.S. border with Mexico. The talks intensified as bargainers race to draft a framework by this weekend, with a push for a framework of the border deal by Sunday, in preparation for possible votes in the week ahead.
During the negotiations, the White House pushed to include provisions that would legalize young immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children, according to two people with knowledge of the closed-door talks. However, provisions for pro-immigration changes were quickly taken off the table by Republicans.
Prominent House Democrats, such as the chair of the Hispanic Caucus Nanette Barragán and the chair of the Progressive Caucus Pramila Jayapal, have joined the news conference raising concerns about the proposed border policy changes.
Senator Padilla warned that Biden’s concessions on border restrictions could have a lasting impact on his support from Latino voters, saying, “To think that concessions are going to be made without benefiting a single Dreamer, a single farm worker, a single undocumented essential worker is unconscionable.”
The issues at stake are not just immigration policies, but also the Biden administration’s response to the growing number of people arriving at the U.S. border. The debate further underscores the complexities of US immigration law and the political pressures faced by the Biden administration.