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It might surprise Americans to learn that high-level bipartisan talks have been underway to find a compromise solution to the crisis at the border.
It should shock no one who has paid attention to US border policy over the past 30 years that the talks may soon be dead. Even less shocking is that former President Donald Trump can be blamed for killing them.
Trump, the Republican Party’s likely presidential nominee, again wants the border to be his main election issue. He’s opposing any sort of compromise between Republicans and Democrats, especially one that could give President Joe Biden a legislative victory, even as he now acknowledges there is a border crisis. Lawmakers find themselves in a bind, left with nothing much beyond talking points.
Versions of this story have been on repeat for the past several decades. Every recent president, Republican and Democrat, has tried to put his name on a border compromise. They ultimately fail because of hard-line resistance on Capitol Hill.
Here’s the anatomy of how a border compromise never came to be:
‘Total disaster, it’s embarrassing’: Republican senator on McConnell’s handling of border talks
► May 2023 – House Republicans pass hard-line border bill. As a Trump-era border policy known as Title 42 expired, House Republicans pass their own policy proposal to restart construction of a border wall, increase funding for border agents and upgraded border technology, reinstate the “remain in Mexico” policy, place new restrictions on asylum-seekers and enhance…
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