President Biden must feel like he can’t catch a break. Even as the nation’s cost-of-living crisis seems to be abating, another is rising to take its place: A record-breaking surge of illegal immigrants across America’s southern border.
Recent polls show that immigration has either edged out inflation as U.S. voters’ top concern or is running a close second. The last thing President Biden and Democrats need is a chaotic border taking center stage in the 2024 presidential campaign.
The spike has overwhelmed border and customs officials, flooded immigration courts and detention shelters and imposed heavy economic costs on border communities. It’s also sparking a backlash in big “sanctuary cities” like Chicago, Denver and New York, where Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been busing migrants.
The public consequently gives Biden low marks for handling immigration. That’s especially true in key swing states, where by hefty margins voters trust Donald Trump more than Biden to manage the situation on the border.
But if immigration is a political headache for Biden and his party, it’s turning into a debacle for the Republican Party. Yesterday, in a stunning display of hypocrisy and cowardice, Republican congressional leaders torpedoed a tough national and border security bill designed to drastically curtail illegal immigration.
