Link Ukraine and Israel, not Ukraine and border
Conn Carroll
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Republicans looking for a pound of flesh from Democrats in exchange for passing another round of aid for Ukraine might want to take a look at what unfolded outside Democratic National Committee headquarters Wednesday night.
A mob of anti-Israel protesters blockaded the doors to the DNC offices, where at least a dozen Democratic members of Congress were trapped inside. Six Capitol Police officers were injured trying to rescue the lawmakers from the building.
Clearly continued support for the state of Israel has become a painful dividing line in the Democratic Party.
In fact, recent polling by Echelon Insights showed that more Democratic voters oppose aid to Israel than Republican voters oppose aid to Ukraine. Support for Israel aid is also much higher among Republicans than it is among Democrats.
Why not bundle the aid together and pass them both?
This would be a far easier path than the one being demanded by Republicans. Both Senate and House Republican leaders are reportedly still demanding that Ukraine aid be paired with border security reforms.
And if Democrats were anywhere near ready to accept the reforms that are necessary to secure the border, this might be a good trade. It makes sense to secure our border before we secure that of Ukraine.
But our border was unsecure long before Russia invaded Ukraine, and we have already spent billions helping Ukraine fight Russia while illegal immigrants flooded our cities. In other words, these two problems have already been unlinked for years now. There is no real reason to start linking them now.
More importantly, though, Democrats have made it exceedingly clear that they have no intention of doing what is necessary to stop the flow of migrants illegally crossing the southern border.
Are there things Democrats want to help mitigate pain from the problem? Sure. They want billions in taxpayer dollars to house, clothe, feed, and educate immigrants here in the United States. But bailing out Democratic sanctuary cities will only encourage more immigrants.
Democrats also want billions more to hire more Border Patrol agents on the southern border. And if these new agents came with a policy change of returning immigrants back to Mexico, then it might be helpful. But that is not what Biden will use new Border Patrol agents to do. Instead, Biden would use more agents just to process illegal immigrants into the country faster.
The sad reality is that the southern border is not going to be secure until there is a new president in the White House. If Republicans had control of both the House and Senate, by wide margins, then maybe they could force Biden to enforce the law and end his catch-and-release policies.
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But with narrow control of just one chamber, Republicans can’t force Biden and the Democrats to do something that is just so against their nature.
Instead, Republicans should take an easy win: Pair Ukraine aid with Israel, and watch the Democratic Party tear itself apart.