The escalating border crisis is posing a significant threat to President Biden's re-election campaign.
The campaign's co-chair, Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas. Escobar expressed her concern about the potential political fallout from the ongoing issue, which sees hundreds of thousands of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border each month.
Escobar, in conversation with Politico, pointed out that the responsibility for the crisis lies with Congress, not the president. "It is our job," she stated, indicating Congress's repeated failures to address the issue effectively. She voiced her apprehension about Democrats being held accountable for the crisis, saying, "I do worry that Democrats will get blamed simply because the president is in the White House."
When asked if she feared that the border crisis could negatively impact Biden's re-election prospects, she admitted, "I hope not, but Im afraid of that."
These remarks from Escobar came in the wake of Texas Governor Greg Abbott's recent legislative move. Abbott signed a law permitting state law enforcement to arrest migrants who illegally cross the border. At the signing ceremony, Abbott stated that the objective of Senate Bill 4 was to "stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas."
Under this new law, migrants taken into custody have two options: either comply with a Texas judge's order to leave the U.S. or face prosecution for misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Non-compliant migrants could be re-arrested under more severe felony charges.
The Fiscal Year 2023 has witnessed an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration, with over 2.4 million migrant encounters at the border. Records for encounters at the southern border were broken in September and again in October, with more than 240,000 encounters reported border-wide.
Meanwhile, Congress remains at an impasse over potential border legislation. Biden and his Democratic colleagues have declined to negotiate on the issue, prompting Republicans to tie Ukraine funding to addressing the domestic crisis first.
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