Yes, there is so a border crisis

[redqueen]

I don't know why people want to pretend this isn't happening but it is.

It would be one thing if we spread the wealth around equally in this country and we could help these immigrants while also making sure citizens could get jobs that paid enough to afford housing, healthcare, etc. but that's not what we do.

Meanwhile we're telling people that what's happening isn't even happening - how is that going to help?

This is from NPR

Migrants are showing up at the U.S. southern border in historic numbers. Here's why

...

In the past year, the southwest border has received historic numbers of migrants. More than 2.4 million people. It's been record-breaking numbers for the past few years. San Diego alone has received more than 230,000 people this year. That's a 30% increase from the year before.

...

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/12/1212058889/migrants-u-s-southern-border-historic-numbers-why


We aren't helping ourselves by pretending this issue isn't an issue. All were doing is ensuring the right wins on this issue.

Fox news showed this last night.

?si=XK1VO_7tnTTUPVlj

And this is the most recent non right wing media reporting I can find on this issue

How Many Migrants Are Crossing the Border?

Migrant encounters across U.S. borders have exceeded 988,900 the past three months, following a record-setting number in fiscal year 2023.

As part of the current fiscal year that began in October, there were 309,114 migrant encounters that month, 308,669 in November and 371,036 in December. In December, about 300,000 migrants—nearly 10,000 per day—came into the U.S. through Mexico, including about 250,000 between ports of entry, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. Federal border agents encountered about 2.5 million migrants in total last year, surpassing the previous record high from the year before.

...

While numbers remained steady at about 241,000 and 242,000 migrant encounters in October and November, respectively, they shot up to about 302,000 in December.

In fiscal year 2021, southern border encounters increased every month between October and July. They ascended from about 71,000 in October to more than 213,000 by July, ultimately decreasing in August and even more so in September. The final total was about 1.734 million for the period.
...

https://www.newsweek.com/how-many-migrants-are-crossing-border-1867407

We can't afford to just whistle past the graveyard and hope that voters who are struggling understand.

[Walleye]

1. I always laugh when the right wingers say we weren't spending money on migrants we would be spending it on the poor

Like that money wouldn’t just go to the top 1% like it does now. The Republicans will never vote relief for the poor and homeless people. It’s got nothing to do with the border crisis

[spooky3]

3. Immigrants are generally among the hardest working folks in the country.

If they are poor, it's because employers aren't paying enough.

[redqueen]

5. Yes they're fools to think the right would spend that money on the poor and working class

But it's not the right wing voters I'm worried about. It's the mushy middle

[spooky3]

2. I agree. And, it is probably a more persuasive political argument to say

that we have a crisis; Dems have negotiated with Repubs a bill with provisions that will help, but Republicans refuse to even bring it to a vote. If you want solutions, vote for Dems.

[redqueen]

6. Agree

That would be much better than just telling people there's no crisis.

[BradBo]

4. How the hell are we "whistling past the graveyard"?

Democrats attempted an immigration fix during the War Monger Bush W term and the corporate republicans turned it down.
This week the republicans in the House turned a massive immigration bill down again.

[redqueen]

7. Dems on this board are. Dem pundits are.

Yes Dem politicians are taking this issue seriously and working to address it, but just this morning I've seen people here and on Midas Touch saying there's no crisis.

[Demsrule86]

15. A convoy memeber said on Fox this morning that she couldn't find the invasion.

Midas is correct. While we need to reach an agreement, it is not and invasion. And we can't fix it by ourselves.

[redqueen]

23. Of course it's not an invasion - but that one woman at eagle pass doesn't change anything

Eagle pass isn't seeing huge numbers because over the past month the majority have started crossing in CA and AZ.

Look at the links in my OP. Numbers don't lie.

[xocetaceans]

12. We are pretending it is not an important issue that will cause many independents to vote against Democratic...

...politicians, since the GOP politicians create the illusion that they care about solving the problem. Now, that illusion might have been damaged by the recent defeat by the GOP of its own "desired" bill, but the independent voters are not often in the middle because they have been paying strict attention to all political issues.

So, "whistling past the graveyard" is embodied by the Democratic politicians not making this a focal point of their campaigns: that focus would at least achieve rhetorical equality with the GOP and deprive the GOP of some of its leverage over the swath of independent voters. In not focusing on this, we are ignoring something that will potentially hurt Democrats in the next election cycle.

It is not enough to try to enact solutions: those aspirations must be clearly and repeatedly marketed to the public.

[Demsrule86]

21. What you say is simply not true...the Senate has spent months crafting a compromise bill to

fix the border. Democrats are the only ones (with some GOP Senators) attempting to fix the border.

[redqueen]

25. Dem POLITICIANS are working - people here and on MeidasTouch

Are hurting us by claiming it's all a big lie that there are huge numbers of people trying to cross the border.

[xocetaceans]

32. And your post says nothing about getting the message out to the public. The point is clear public perception. That ...

... has not been achieved and is not being achieved at the moment. Hopefully, it will be, but hope is not a strategy that the Democrats should count on.

So, you can keep claiming that up is down if you want to do so, but gravity will still disprove your beliefs.

[Diamond_Dog]

8. One thing I never thought of which was mentioned here

Is that insanely long wait times to be processed legally just encourages desperate people to cross the border illegally.

[redqueen]

10. Yes that's definitely part of the problem.

This issue isn't just a problem here either. It's driving more voters to the right in Europe too.

[harumph]

9. Yes, while there is quite a bit of outright misrepresentation

from the right, there seems to be also a good deal of "misdirection" from the left on this.
Saying that for example, detentions are down by half over the last two weeks (from a recent Meidastouch video) is fairly meaningless
given the overall numbers and trending. I live in Texas. This is a problem. It is real. What people don't realize is that
when one entry point gets too "hot" migrants who don't intend to report simply enter through another under surveiled point along the border. There aren't enough border agents to do their job safely for both the agents and the migrants. It's a damn disgrace. Biden needs to clearly lay out for the public exactly what features were in the immigration bill and state clearly that it is being
deep-sixed by republicans so they can maintain a crisis for political points.

[redqueen]

11. I'm in Texas too. I can't watch meidas touch anymore

Too glib about serious issues and it's not helping.

I think Biden is doing a good job but I do think he could hit them harder on this issue. I'm hoping since this senate bill failed he'll come out swinging

We're also having problems with the effort to win Santos's seat because of this issue

[xocetaceans]

16. Yes, hopefully, President Biden will focus on this issue and pin the thwarting of that bill to the GOP and more...

...particularly to their willingness to take Trump's direction even though he is not in office. That very lack of independence from Trump is and should be clearly brought up: it seems quite well beyond the pale that the office holders of an independent branch of the US Government should be so deeply subservient that they bend to the mere campaign wishes of a disgraced ex-President.

[ripcord]

18. I was shocked so many people here said this was Texas' problem to deal with the increase in migrants

Their only concern was that Abbott was "winning" by bussing immigrants.

[pinkstarburst]

29. Yes. There is disconnect from people who live far from the issue

until it directly starts affecting them (like in Chicago, Denver or New York.) I also live in Texas. I think this issue is going to be important to independents in November. I think Biden saying "I just can't enforce border policy without this bill" doesn't work. I think he needs to take action NOW so Trump can't hold it over his head. Sorry, but it's impacting too many major cities and taking resources away from Democratic stronghold voting groups.

[LeftinOH]

13. Conservatives have been screaming "Open Border" / "Open Border Policy"

ever since Biden took office. The inevitable trickle-down effect is that, south of the border, our domestic political narratives are completely lost on people who are migrating north - or contemplating doing so.

For many of them, simply hearing that the border is "open" (especially when several *Republican* government officials and the former President are stating it as fact) is undoubtedly encouraging people to migrate northward.

Consider how many Americans derive their entire political outlook on gross misinformation and bad narratives; the misinformation about the border being "open" is probably even worse among migrants. Republicans are partly responsible for manifesting this problem.

[redqueen]

17. Well they want to make it worse - it gets them votes

The right has found an issue that they can make worse while portraying the left as making it worse, and it's working.

Just saying "well it's not true so let's not worry about it" isn't helping - especially not since for various reasons, those numbers are going up

And let's be real - with climate change they will most likely keep going up. So we need to stop with the ostrich act and deal with it.

[Demsrule86]

14. I saw on Fox one of the Convoy nutters...ask where is the invasion?

and saying...' this has changed my mind'. I have no doubt something needs to be done but clearly, it is not a national crisis as the Senate has a bill that our base will hate and still we did it in order to 'fix' the border. And can I say, it is annoying when the GOP claims we don't accept that the border needs to be fixed but it is dreadful when such a thing is posted on DU. It is not true and should not be posted here.

[redqueen]

19. Whether or not you agree that the record setting numbers constitute a crisis

They are winning on this issue.

That is a crisis for us if we want to win elections

[Demsrule86]

24. I don't agree. I don't think they are or will win on this issue. Clearly the trashing of

a bipartisan bill at Trump's demand is making them look extremely bad. WE can and will win on this issue and this thread feels like an attack on Democrats to be honest.

[redqueen]

26. It's not making them look bad

They're just calling the bill a bill to fund foreign wars.

Look I agree that this shit is stupid and if all voters were educated critical thinkers it wouldn't be an issue. But that's not reality.

This one issue more than any other is being used to peel votes in many countries. I don't want to see that happen here

[Demsrule86]

30. Again, I disagree. I live in Ohio and a few of my neighbors are MAGA...we don't discuss it.

But I overheard a conversation where some I know are MAGA were discussing it and they were not favoring the GOP...they also discussed how the House was accomplishing nothing. But can agree to disagree. And it should not be here as it will be presented on Free Republic, Dumster, or other rightwing sites as even DU agrees that Democrats are to blame for the border...not one mention here how the courts have interfered with Biden's attempt to use executive orders to help with the border and that the GOP is refusing to pass a bill that would drive our base crazy. I think it was a good compromise personally. But the GOP will get blamed in the end.

[LeftInTX]

31. It's the numbers that turn off voters. The statistics don't lie.

It doesn't feel like an "invasion" to me, but I can go to the local immigration center and see many people sleeping on the streets. My friend drove past and was overwhelmed.

I gotta wonder if many immigrants also just wander off and mingle with the homeless population. We're seeing a significant increase in homeless camps.

It doesn't bother me, but I'm sure it bothers other people.

___
Then all you gotta do is have one immigrant commit a bad crime and "poof". I remember when an immigrant shot a young woman in SF. It was a huge talking point for the Trump campaign.

[yardwork]

20. I agree, and Democrats are losing the messaging war on this.

All I see on the local evening news is ad after ad showing scary clips of people crossing the border, with voiceovers stating that "Biden has done nothing to stop this invasion...", with photos of Kamala Harris to drive home the point that white America is under attack by "those people."

The R candidates are veterans who talk about defending America from terrorists "the same people Biden is letting in.."

People are not hearing about what Congress is doing because that's not covered on the local news. They're getting their information about the border from these Republican ads.

The DNC and Democratic leaders need to fight back. This week should have been saturated with Democrats giving press conferences to complain about Republican obstructionism - in plain language. Send Fetterman out to talk about it.

[redqueen]

27. All of this!!

I get so fkn mad watching all the footage fox news shows - they are very good at what they do.

They are pushing it hard to get votes from more poor and working class people and seeing pieces like that one on Meidas Touch where he says it's just all a lie - makes me wanna pull my hair out

[Sancho]

22. Sorry, but the current border is not really an issue - a path to citizenship is the issue.

...I lived in El Paso in the late 50s, and I've been teaching in Florida for more than 30 years. There are times where the immigrants are more or less, but the basics have hardly changed in decades. There is no realistic way to prevent immigration, but there could be ways to have a reasonable process for documentation.

Here, about a quarter to a third of my students were born outside the US. About 15% of the houses in my middle class neighborhood are owned by familes from out of the US. My colleagues are from Poland, Germany, Turkey, China, Korea, Jamaica, Brazil, Peru, and Cuba. Schools and universities hire faculty from overseas because there is a teacher shortage. One of the easiest ways to enter the US is to come on a student visa, get a job in the US, and stay here.

About half the people who work for contractors here are "undocumented" (maybe more).
Some come over the border with Mexico, but most arrive with visas or by boat from the Caribbean.

No one will ever get a handle on this until there is a reasonable way for people to become legitimate. Who knows how many millions are in the US now? This is a typical story:

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/08/14/forced-to-fire-undocumented-workers-owner-of-landmark-florida-restaurant-seeks-change/

Most immigrants work and want to become citizens. Spending years and thousands of dollars to become a citizen is crazy. People are deported, and many simply return. They leave their children who were born here, and come back as quickly as possible. This is dated, but it is accurate:

The border is a shiny object: https://www.npr.org/2019/01/10/683662691/where-does-illegal-immigration-mostly-occur-heres-what-the-data-tell-us

Most undocumented immigrants didn't enter this country through Tijuana, where news cameras have captured images of thousands of immigrants seeking refuge during recent months.

And they didn't enter near the border town of McAllen, Texas, which the president visited Thursday during the 20th day of a partial government shutdown fought over constructing additional barriers on the Southern border.

When it comes to people in the country without proper documentation, the majority of them didn't cross the Mexican border at all. Most of them came to the United States legally — but then don't leave.

About 700,000 travelers to the United States overstayed their visas in fiscal 2017, the most recent year for which the Department of Homeland Security has published figures. DHS estimated that, as of Sept. 30, 2017, the end of that fiscal year, more than 600,000 of those travelers were still in the U.S.

[Sneederbunk]

28. Biden needs to go to border now and speak out.