Democrats Under Pressure: Political Calendar Exposes Ideological Differences on Immigration
July 25, 2019
Policy Beat
By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter
The glow that characterized the Democratic Party’s seemingly unified position on immigration after it recaptured the House in the 2018 mid-term elections is fading fast. Where once it was enough for the party to stand united against the Trump administration’s enforcement-only immigration policies, such a position is not enough in the absence of an affirmative agenda to address the chaotic reality unfolding at the U.S.-Mexico border and to fix the badly strained immigration system.
Differences among centrists and liberals in the Democratic Party largely went unnoticed during the first two years of the Trump administration due to several factors, including their show of unity in denying President Trump funding for his border wall. This unity was reinforced in the wake of a record 35-day partial federal government shutdown that began in December 2018, when congressional Democrats held fast and forced the White House to dubiously declare a national emergency to tap other funds for the proposed wall. In addition, the perceived contrast between the Democrats and an administration whose immigration policies are seen by many as uncaring, if not cruel—and a president whose anti-immigration narrative is sharply and frequently expressed—masked chasms within the party.
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/democrats-under-pressure-political-calendar-exposes-ideological-differences-immigration
