Joe Biden's Border Policies Divide Democrats

Some Democrats are splitting with President Joe Biden's border policies as the United States begins grappling with a wave of undocumented migrants arriving in the country after the end of Title 42.

Late Thursday night, Title 42—a Trump-era policy allowing the denial of asylum seekers under the premise of the COVID-19 public health emergency—officially expired after a failed effort by the Biden administration to keep it in place, allowing hundreds, if not thousands, of undocumented immigrants to cross the U.S. southern border.

While the new arrivals have already faced early legal hurdles—Florida filed a lawsuit Wednesday night challenging plans by the Department of Homeland Security to immediately parole undocumented migrants entering the country to ease pressure on the court system—Biden's initial approach to handling the crisis has already drawn critiques from all sides, including within his party.

Some, predictably, feel he's doing too little. Others argue that his approach, forged by hard criticism from Republican members of Congress and embattled mayors in cities from El Paso, Texas, to New York, is too aggressive and too closely mirrors the hardline policies of former President Donald Trump.

New York Democrats Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez previously slammed one Biden policy preventing adults or families from seeking asylum in the United States if they traveled through another country on their way and did not apply for (or were denied) asylum there, with the latter claiming the ban would effectively bar "most refugees from Central and South America from successfully seeking asylum in the United States."

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit over the policy, while others have pushed the Biden White House to reconsider its position.

"We urge the Biden administration to reverse this decision and work towards upholding the right to asylum," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in February, when the proposal was announced.

Another effort by Texas Democratic Representative Veronica Escobar seeks to push Biden to cease a number of Trump-era economic sanctions on countries like Cuba and Venezuela that she and the effort's supporters claim have damaged the countries' economies and led many to flee for opportunities in the United States.

"Experts widely agree that broad-based U.S. sanctions—expanded to an unprecedented level by your predecessor—are a leading contributing factor in the current surge in migration," read a letter obtained by The Washington Post. "We urge you to act swiftly to lift the failed and indiscriminate economic sanctions that were imposed by the prior administration."

Others argue that Biden should seek to help the new arrivals engage in the American economy faster. According to a Friday morning report by Axios, Ocasio-Cortez and 13 other members of Congress—including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer—have written to Biden urging his administration to find ways to allow asylum seekers to obtain work permits faster than the currently allowable six months, one way of which likely includes the parole method disputed by Florida.

"Many asylum seekers want to work," the letter read. "We ask that your administration support the many states, cities and communities enthusiastically welcoming asylum seekers across this country."

Vulnerable members of Biden's coalition, however, are siding with Republican calls for stricter limits on who can enter the country. Last week, three battleground-state Senate Democrats—West Virginia's Joe Manchin, Montana's Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown of Ohio—co-sponsored legislation sponsored by border-state independent Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona seeking to extend provisions similar to Title 42 for two more years, undermining Biden's already razor-thin majority in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

"My top priority is defending Montana and keeping our nation safe, plain and simple," Tester said in a statement. "That means standing up to anyone, including President Biden, to secure the southern border and to stop the deadly flow of fentanyl into our communities.

"I oppose the Biden Administration's plan to end Title 42 without a real plan in place, which is why I am teaming up with Republicans and Democrats to give DHS the tools they need to get a better handle on the southern border."

Newsweek reached out to the White House Press Office via email for comment.