“Thank you for what you did to get us through the pandemic, friend, and for everything you do for our country,” Biden said as he announced a program to make it easier for Castro and other undocumented immigrants who come with the USA being married. citizens to apply for legal residence.
The dueling speeches reflect the competing approaches the two candidates are taking as they face a controversial issue that polls show has become increasingly salient to voters. These strategies are likely to be on display Thursday, as Trump deals with an issue that was central to his political rise, while Biden claims Trump is torpedoing actual solutions to perpetuate a political issue.
While Trump repeatedly cites examples of what he has called “Biden migrant crime,” Biden is trying to divert Americans' attention from the surge of migration at the southern border during his presidency. After issuing new asylum restrictions this month that could close much of the border, Biden's latest move is trying to spotlight a more sympathetic group: undocumented residents who have been living, working and sharing in the country for years part of their community.
Both men plan to attack the issue during Thursday's debate, aides say. With immigration emerging as one of Biden's biggest political risks according to polls, his ability to counter Trump's expected attack and defend his policies could prove particularly challenging.
“Trump and the Republicans are obviously not concerned about walking fine lines on immigration. They have put all their chips on the table in favor of targeting immigrants as criminals, terrorists and economic threats,” said Dan Tichenor, a professor at the University of Oregon who has written about immigration politics. “The debate will almost certainly highlight a familiar contrast: Trump tackling immigrant threats and border chaos, and Biden claiming his opponents are making a false choice between border security and welcoming immigrants.”
The debate could also give Trump an opportunity to clarify his position on legal immigration, after he said last week that he supported giving green cards to any foreign student who graduates from a U.S. university. The comment, made during an interview with the “All-In” podcast, drew criticism from some Trump supporters who saw it as a major departure from his broader anti-immigration platform.
Still, the shift in U.S. views on the border during Biden's presidency suggests he may have a tougher job convincing voters that his approach is sound. While Trump's term was marked by traumatic scenes of migrant families being separated and political battles over his proposed border wall, recent polls suggest that Americans have come to view his restrictive approach to immigration more favorably.
a YouGov poll For example, a survey conducted for The Economist earlier this month found that 62 percent of Americans disapproved of Biden's handling of immigration, while only 29 percent approved.
Voters favor Trump over Biden on handling immigration by a 2-to-1 margin (52 percent to 26 percent), according to a recent Washington Post-Schar School poll of voters in six swing states. That poll also found that 58 percent of voters believe undocumented immigrants in the United States should be offered the opportunity to apply for legal status, while 42 percent say they should be deported to the countries they came from come.
Biden, after recent moves that courted — and angered — both sides, is bracing for tough questions at the debate, according to aides and advisers, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the event .
This is not a new challenge for the president. Biden took office promising a more humane approach after Trump's hardline policies, but a record surge of migrants at the border has given Trump fodder to attack his rival on an issue long at the heart of the Make America Great Again' talk from the former president. .
Lately, Biden has tried to take a tougher stance on border security, saying the “goodwill of the American people is in short supply right now.” He supported a bipartisan bill several months ago that would have effectively closed the border if the number of illegal border crossings exceeded 5,000 per day.
But Republicans, emboldened by Trump, blocked that bill, some saying they wanted to prevent Biden from neutralizing the volatile political issue. In response, Biden recently issued an executive order to block migrants' entry into the U.S. asylum system when illegal border crossings exceed 2,500 per day.
“We must face a simple truth: To protect America as a country that welcomes immigrants, we must first secure the border and secure it now,” Biden said on June 4 as he announced the new restrictions.
While liberals and immigration advocates decried the order as a concession to Trump's anti-immigrant approach, the president's aides said he had little choice but to address an issue causing rising fear among voters.
Aides suggest Biden will enter the debate ready to spar aggressively with Trump on immigration. He has accused the former president of playing politics on the issue and trying to exploit the divisive problem instead of solving it. At the same time, Biden has cast other White House actions — including last week's move to protect more than 500,000 spouses of undocumented U.S. citizens — as pragmatic, effective and humane.
“There's a huge opportunity here to get control of the immigration narrative,” said Matt A. Barreto, a pollster for the Biden campaign who focuses on Latinos. “Biden can now say, 'You've done nothing but say crazy things. I am the one who takes action. I secured the border, reduced the number of migrants crossing, and now I'm providing relief so we can keep families together.”
Specifically, Biden plans to draw a contrast between his recent executive action and Trump's policy of separating migrant children from their parents, advisers said.
Republicans predict such arguments are unlikely to sway voters, who trust Trump far more on immigration, and even many Democrats say the best Biden can hope for is modestly diluting his opponent's advantage. Even as the number of migrants crossing the border has declined in recent weeks, Trump has increased his focus on the issue, focusing on specific cases of violent crimes allegedly committed by men who crossed the border during Biden's presidency.
At rallies and in social media posts, Trump has telegraphed the kind of attacks he plans to launch on Thursday.
“We have another killing of Biden migrants – it's just getting worse, and it's all Crooked Joe Biden's fault,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website last week, posting a news story about two Venezuelan migrants who were accused of killing a 12-year-old male. old girl in Houston. “I'm looking forward to seeing him at the Mock Debate on Thursday. Let him explain why he allowed MILLIONS of people to enter our country illegally!”
Trump's focus on such individual cases comes at a time when violent crime overall has declined, and Biden has pointed to data showing immigrants are less likely to break the law than native-born citizens. But those statistics have not shielded the president from voters' fears over his immigration policies, something Trump aides say the former president will seize on if the two men share a stage.
“In every poll, Americans trust President Trump over Joe Biden on immigration, and the majority of Americans support President Trump's plans for mass deportations,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement asking Biden it was also accused of national security risks and economic costs. apparently associated with record border crossings.
“Americans are tired of being last place – and President Trump will put our citizens first again by taking action from day one to close the southern border and deport Biden's illegal aliens,” said she.
Biden's aides say Trump's rhetoric on immigration often veers into extremism and Thursday's debate will give Americans a firsthand look at how the former president embraces racist ideas, turning off Latinos and moderates. Biden has used his platform lately to quote Trump's most inflammatory comments about foreigners.
Trump has claimed that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of America,” has falsely accused Biden of facilitating a “holocaust” of missing migrant children and has smeared broad groups of immigrants with dehumanizing language.
During a speech to Christian conservatives on Saturday, Trump suggested that “an immigrant league of fighters” could be created in which immigrants would be pitted against each other for entertainment.
Biden should not shy away from confronting Trump with such language, said Maria Cardona, a Democratic Democrat strategist. “There's a huge, huge pitfall for Trump if he goes all out about xenophobia here,” she said.
Biden's allies also hope Thursday's format will emphasize Trump's positions on immigration and turn away moderate voters.
There will be no studio audience for the debate, and each candidate's microphones will be muted if he or she does not have the floor. Without the boisterous response from an applauding crowd or the ability to interrupt his rival, Trump could find it difficult to sell his arguments on migrant crime and mass deportations, Barreto said.
“Trump will have to convince Americans that the immigrants they know are murderers, murderers and rapists,” he said. “And outside of maybe a quarter of his base, the rest of the American public doesn't believe that.”
Emily Guskin contributed to this report.
