President Biden has ‘no clear wins’ on border policy, immigration advocates say

Immigration advocates told NBC News that they are frustrated by President Biden’s confusing border policies and believe his administration has “no clear wins” on immigration, the outlet reported Saturday. 

“There are no clear wins for him. It’s one step forward and two steps back. And that’s not a recipe for success in terms of making a case,” Janet Murguía, the president of UnidosUS, a Hispanic civil rights and advocacy group, told NBC News. 

NBC News reported that the president has struggled to find an effective way to explain his immigration policies. 

Murguía also said the president’s explanations of his immigration policy were “very confusing.”

President Joe Biden delivers remarks to service members, first responders, and their families on the 22nd of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on September 11, 2023. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

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“One day, they do something positive that shows a path forward. And the next day, they revert to the policies that are draconian,” Vanessa Cárdenas, the executive director of America’s Voice, a pro-immigration advocacy group, told the outlet. “It reinforces this notion that the White House doesn’t have it together when it comes to immigration. It’s hard for voters to figure out where they stand.”

Biden’s administration approved $950 million in contracts to repair and upgrade part of existing border wall construction in Arizona, California and Texas in November, using money from Trump-era congressional appropriations.

“That was one of the reasons they didn’t like Trump and voted against him. The reaction they had was: ‘Here’s another promise broken,'” Cárdenas told NBC News, referring to the wall construction.

Democratic governors have also questioned the president’s border policies as several northern states, such as New York, are dealing with an influx of migrants. 

Migrants wait in line adjacent to the border fence under the watch of the Texas National Guard to enter into El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, May 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

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Justin Brannan, a New York City councilman who traveled to Washington, D.C., to discuss the migrant crisis in the city with the Biden administration and other lawmakers, told NBC News that the lack of White House response on the immigration issue was shocking.

“It’s not the responsibility of a municipality to finance or manage an international migrant crisis,” Brannan said. “The city doesn’t have a Department of Resettlement. We don’t have the agencies or the bandwidth or the expertise to do that.”

“Honestly, the lack of response from the White House has been puzzling,” he said.

President Joe Biden speaks to reporters at the American Possibilities White House Demo Day at The Showroom in Washington, DC, on November 7, 2023. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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Biden’s approval of the border wall was met with backlash from Democrats as the administration blamed Congress. 

“The Biden administration was not required to expand construction of the border wall — and they certainly were not required to waive several environmental laws to expedite the building,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said. “The president needs to take responsibility for this decision and reverse course.”