Trump Is Vulnerable to Biden on Immigration

I n recent days Trump has resorted to calling in to a cable news program to explain how his threat of tariffs against Mexico resulted in a substantial win on immigration or trade policy for the United States. It’s hard to see how he accomplished his goal of pressuring Mexico to do more to end movement through its country into the U.S. Trump declared victory before a shot was fired in this war. But in the meantime Mexican officials are correcting the record: Their country has not agreed to purchase more agricultural goods, and it has resisted American demands to accept the status of a “safe third country,” which would require Central American asylum seekers to apply in Mexico if they land there before reaching the United States. As with North Korea, the president created drama in the headlines, quickly accepted the bare minimum gesture from the other side, and declared victory.

And one can see that on this issue Trump might be especially vulnerable to the man leading in the Democratic polls, Joe Biden. At a superficial level, Biden will be able to attack Trump from the right and the left on immigration. In one breath he can hit Trump’s policies for being cruel and unusual. In the next, he can point out that we still have lawlessness, chaos, at the border. In fact, he could say that, besides the policy of child separation, Trump’s legacy on immigration is a dramatic increase in illegal crossings.

And that may be enough.

Appropriately in a primary setting, Biden has been emphasizing his position on the left side of the debate, saying that undocumented immigrants are “already Americans” and calling out Trump’s policies on child separation at the border as being cruel and damaging to America’s reputation and foreign relations.

But he could easily pivot back to the center. He has been in politics long enough to be on a few sides of this issue. He could point out that he has voted for hundreds of miles of border barrier in the past. Like Trump, he connected the lack of a fence to “tons” of drugs coming over the border. In a previous run for president, in 2007 and 2008, he denounced sanctuary cities.