Southwest border crisis leaves Biden vulnerable on all sides
CNN
The White House may be loath to call the situation on the Southwestern border, which hundreds of migrant children are crossing alone, a crisis. But it's fast becoming a political emergency for the new President.
As is often the case, the plight of desperate people fleeing poverty, repression, crime and natural disasters in the hope of a better life in the US is being churned in the maelstrom of Washington politics. That so many of those concerned are so young, and packed into detention centers amid a pandemic, makes it even more tragic. The surge in migrant crossings in recent weeks has offered Republicans an opening to brand President Joe Biden as naive and soft on illegal immigration. But pressure is also being heaped on him from within his own party from progressives anguished about the detention of hundreds of juvenile border crossers. The controversy is exacerbating tensions in Congress as Democrats move early immigration bills this week -- one providing a route to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children and another granting legal protections to migrant farmworkers -- that may end up being blocked by Republicans in the 50-50 Senate.More Related News
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