President Joe Biden is dangling new border curbs and praising the border plan pushed by Mexico’s president as he tries to restore his support among alienated and disappointed Latino voters.
When asked by the Spanish-language Univision TV network if he plans to issue an executive order to curb the inflow, Biden dodged by saying:
There’s no guarantee that I have that power all by myself without legislation. And some have suggested I should just go ahead and try it. And if I get shut down by the court, I get shut down by the court. We’re trying to work through that right now.
In contrast, former President Donald Trump used the president’s myriad legal and diplomatic powers in 2019 to sharply reduce illegal migration in 2020.
Biden’s border dodge is rational because swing voters want curbs while critical groups in his coalition — West Coast investors and anti-border progressives — have successfully blocked proposed actions to curb the inflow of migrant workers, consumers, and renters.