President Biden's decision to impose tough asylum restrictions on people crossing the US-Mexico border highlights how immigration has become an election issue. Our columnists Karen Tumulty, Jim Geraghty and Leon Krause discuss whether there's a way to achieve reform, why the issue is on so many voters' minds, and whether America still sees itself as a nation of immigrants.
To listen to the entire conversation, use the audio player or The Post's “Impromptu” podcast feed.
Karen Tumulty: Our refugee protection system was created after World War II to deal with refugees. Even though President Biden says he's going to tighten the border, we don't actually have the resources to even deport the number of people that they're talking about. Leon, what do you think needs to be fixed in that regard?
Leon Krause: The answer is legislation. The backlog in the U.S. immigration court system is enormous and absurd. The backlog has tripled since the beginning of 2017. So what do we need? We need more judges.
Follow this authorKaren Tumulty's opinion
If you look at the bill that was introduced in Congress a few months ago, there are a number of provisions that are helpful. Does it solve the problem? Probably not. But if you look at the details, it adds 2,700 Border Patrol agents, [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents, billions of dollars for border security.
But politics blocked it. To be sure, the left distanced itself from the bill, too. But Republicans did it for political reasons, to keep the issue top of mind for their voters. And they succeeded! But this decision was about politics, not about public policy.
Tumulty: Is that true, Jim? Do you think that by rejecting the bill that's in front of them, Republicans have prioritized perpetuating the problem over the solution?
Jim Geraghty: The immigration issue was also tied to funding for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel, so it was this grand deal that lumped all these issues together, and maybe it was always a bit too ambitious.
But, yes, [Donald] Trump is going to be the nominee again. How many Republicans want to go against him on an issue as important as immigration? Not many. And this deal — Leon is right, more money for the Border Patrol and more personnel is a good thing, an important step in the right direction.
There was no additional funding for a fence, which would have helped, and the impetus to close the border was not as low as Republican restrictionists would have liked.
But the fairest criticism is [Speaker] The biggest problem for Mike Johnson and other Republicans at the time was that they looked at the deal put together by Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma and turned their noses up at it. They didn't make a counteroffer.
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