Critics: Biden Returning to Moderate Immigration Stance

President Joe Biden appears to be returning to the moderate stance he held on immigration for years, including with the deal being discussed in the Senate to secure war funding, according to liberals who say that he's backing away from his 2020 campaign promises to protect the asylum system.

"The president has certainly changed his tune from when he campaigned on how important it was to protect and restore the asylum system," Rep. Jesus 'Chuy' Garcia, D-Ill., a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, told The Wall Street Journal.

The Senate deal under discussion would include border reforms along with new war aid for Ukraine and Israel, but House Republicans are making stronger demands.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said after meeting with Biden at the White House Wednesday that they spoke about "the necessary elements" to solve the border surge problem, including reforms to the "broken asylum and parole systems."

The negotiations on the aid package come as Biden's approval rating on immigration is at a record low, with a CBS News poll earlier this month showing 63% of the respondents want him to be tougher on immigration and 68% saying they disapprove of his policies.

But during his career over the past 50 years, Biden typically backed a moderate stance on immigration but seldom took on the issue, often choosing to focus on foreign policy.

A White House spokesman said that the president has said that the immigration system is broken, so "that is why his administration is working to find a bipartisan agreement on border funding and policy that will deliver effective and meaningful reforms."

Further, the spokesman noted that the administration has enforced the nation's laws by removing and returning more than 482,000 immigrants who had no legal status to be in the country and has led the largest expansion of legal pathways to citizenship in several years.

White House spokesman said the administration has led the largest expansion of lawful pathways While he was in the Senate, Biden voted for several restriction measures, including a law in 1996 to increase the penalties on illegal border crossings. He also voted in 2006 for a law to authorize the construction of a border fence.

But by the time 2020 rolled around, Biden appeared to espouse a more progressive agenda on immigration, including pledging to reverse many of then-President Donald Trump's border policies.

On his first day in office, Biden stopped the construction of Trump's border wall, ended the Remain in Mexico policy, and reversed a travel ban in place on Muslim-majority countries.

He also sent what was called a Democrats' wishlist on immigration to Congress that included a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants then living in the United States illegally.

Now, with Biden likely to face Trump in November, he's resistant to returning to policies linked to him, including Remain in Mexico, and had objected to workplace raids and detaining migrant families at the border.

He's told advisers, though, that he wants to see the migrant numbers drop and has agreed to some of Trump's measures, including an asylum rule that makes migrants travel through another country and apply for asylum there before heading to the United States.

• 14 Dems Join GOP in Biden Border Policy Rebuke
• WH Hits Back on Mayorkas Impeachment