The Hill:
https://thehill.com/opinion/immigra...r-country-without-taking-seriously-the-border
"I voted for a fence, I voted …, and some of you won't like it, I voted for 700 miles of fence.” Former Vice President Joe Biden, currently leading the Democratic pack in the 2020 presidential race, confessed to this in a 2006 speech to a South Carolina Rotary club, noting that as a senator he had supported the Secure Fence Act.
Today, such a remark is considered a cardinal sin among the Democratic Party’s growing progressive base. Biden’s forced partial walk-back in commenting about his vote shows just how out of step a Democratic White House would be in dealing with our ongoing border crisis.
The situation in which Democrats find themselves on immigration has been fascinating to witness. In what might seem like an alternative universe, many Democrats once had a reasonable, rational response to illegal immigration and border security. They understood that an unsecured border is a serious issue that must be addressed through national security and economic lenses.
Large numbers of illegal crossings can put downward pressure on wages and make life harder for working-class Americans. Potentially dangerous individuals can cross the border and pose a serious threat to the safety of Americans. And there’s the issue of the continual flow of illegal drugs through Mexico into the United States.
In the past, Republicans and Democrats worked together to confront these issues — including, as Biden noted, by funding 700 miles of border fence and other security measures. But bipartisan cooperation has been upended as Democrats today largely choose to ignore the deteriorating situation at the southern border and offer unserious solutions to these pressing issues. They’d rather pretend a crisis doesn’t exist, even though the facts at ground zero paint a clear picture."
