President Biden's 2024 Campaign Takes Stand on Immigration Policy
Washington — President Biden's 2024 campaign is staging a public messaging offensive on immigration policy to condemn proposals by former President Donald Trump that it says will trample on the U.S. Constitution, American values and the rights of immigrants, campaign officials told CBS News.
Mr. Biden's campaign aides are aiming to bring attention to what they see as the most draconian immigration policies Trump has promised to implement if elected again, hoping that his pledges to carry out mass deportations and end birthright citizenship will turn off Latinos and other key voters in 2024. It's a notable increased focus on a deeply divisive issue that polls indicate could be a political vulnerability for Mr. Biden given the record level of illegal crossings at the southern border over the past years.
"Donald Trump is offering us a vision of what America would be under his second term in the White House in 2025," María Carolina Casado, the Biden campaign's media director, told CBS News in an interview. "This is not about restoring our immigration system — that he basically destroyed — or border security. This is about hurting our Latino community, hurting our families and family separation."
The proposed immigration policy shift in the United States, as mentioned by Carolina Casado, is causing fear among many.
Earlier this week, the Biden campaign criticized Trump's promise to deny birthright citizenship to the children of unauthorized immigrants, calling it an attempt to manipulate "children as political pawns" and an affront to the U.S. Constitution. Legal scholars widely believe that the Constitution guarantees citizenship to those born on U.S. soil. Biden's campaign has labeled Trump's immigration plans as both racist and cruel.
On Wednesday, the president's campaign intends to highlight Trump's support for his infamous border policy of separating migrant children from their parents, as well as his refusal to rule out reinstating it. The campaign also plans to condemn Trump's pledge to carry out the "largest deportation operation" in U.S. history, and his reference to "Operation Wetback," a controversial government initiative from the 1950s that resulted in the arrest and deportation of numerous Mexican immigrants and U.S. citizens.
"The truth is that Donald Trump lacks a plan to establish a humane and secure immigration system," stated Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign. "He only prioritizes himself and will exploit our nation's most vulnerable if he believes it will help him regain power."
In a statement, spokesperson for the Trump campaign, Steven Cheung, accused Mr. Biden and Democrats of being responsible for the lawlessness and open border that allows deadly drugs to flow into communities, gives safe passage to human traffickers, and empowers cartels to spread violence. Cheung pointed to the millions of migrant crossings recorded along the U.S.-Mexico border since Biden took office.
Cheung added that President Trump is gaining record support from Hispanics and other minority groups because they believe he is the only one who can secure the border. Cheung mentioned that Trump even went on Univision to directly address the people, something Biden is afraid to do.
Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, senior Trump campaign advisers, downplayed some of the proposed policies and personnel plans outlined by external allies, calling them "merely suggestions." They did not specify which policies they were referring to, but Trump himself has highlighted his immigration plans on the campaign trail. These plans include deporting a historic number of undocumented immigrants, ending birthright citizenship, banning the entry of legal immigrants with certain political beliefs, and expanding travel bans for African and predominantly Muslim countries. Trump has also intensified his harsh rhetoric on the issue, recently stating that some migrants are "poisoning the blood" of the country.
Whether the Biden campaign's efforts to raise alarms about Trump's immigration plans will benefit the president politically, especially among Latinos, remains to be seen.
After all, the Latino vote is very much up for grabs in 2024, according to polls this year. A poll conducted by Univision in September found that 58% of registered Latinos would vote for Mr. Biden, while 31% would support Trump, a larger share than what Republican candidates have garnered historically. A recent survey conducted by the New York Times / Siena College last week showed Biden trailing Trump in most battleground states, including those with large Latino communities like Arizona and Nevada.
Immigration is also one of Mr. Biden's worst-polling issues. A poll conducted by CBS News in September found that 66% of surveyed voters — including 71% of Latinos — had unfavorable views of his handling of immigration, his second most unpopular issue. Moreover, Latinos, like the rest of the electorate, prioritize the economy and other issues, like health care, over immigration.
But Matt Barreto, a pollster commissioned by groups allied to Democrats, said it is "smart" for the Biden campaign to draw contrasts between the president's immigration agenda and what he called Trump's "extreme" and "draconian" proposals. He said Americans are generally accepting of immigrants, citing polling that shows broad support for legal immigration, and granting legal status to some undocumented immigrants.
Latino Voters Concerned About Immigration Issues, Says Political Analyst
A political analyst, Barreto, believes that immigration issues are a significant concern for Latino voters, despite the economy and costs being their top priority. Barreto states that Latino voters are responsive and compassionate about immigration issues and will be upset about the Trump agenda.
