Can Zelensky convince Democrats to accept Trump’s border policies?
Conn Carroll
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There is a clear and easy path for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to secure the votes he needs for another round of funding in his fight against the Russian invasion of his border: Convince President Joe Biden to admit he was wrong and reimplement former President Donald Trump’s popular and effective border policies in the United States.
Zelensky will meet with senators, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and Biden. Much of the focus of Zelensky’s trip has been on whether or not he can convince Republicans to drop their insistence on changes to Biden’s border policies in exchange for more money for Ukraine.
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As Johnson summed up the Republican position recently: “This is an important battle for all the reasons we know, but I don’t think it’s a radical proposition to say that if we’re going to have a national security supplemental package, it ought to begin with our own national security.”
That seems to be the Republican consensus.
Meanwhile, among Democrats, there appears to be an important acknowledgment that Biden’s border policies are not working. Even Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) admitted Monday that the situation “is not sustainable.”
But are Democrats willing to make any changes that would solve the problem?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear so.
“We are still in the room, trying to deal with Republican demands,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said on television on Monday. “We’re not going to put Donald Trump’s immigration policies into statute. It would be bad for the country.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) voiced a similar message. “If Republicans keep insisting on Donald Trump’s border policies, then they will be at fault when a deal for aid to Ukraine, Israel, and humanitarian aid to Gaza fall apart,” he said.
Unfortunately for Democrats, not only are Trump’s border policies effective, but they are also immensely popular with voters.
Asked last December by Harvard University if the Biden administration should “continue its current policies” on the border or issue new policies to “reduce the flow of people coming across the border,” 67% of voters chose reducing the flow of people coming across the border.
Asked specifically if those illegally crossing the border “should be turned back to Mexico,” which is what Trump’s policy was, or “released into the U.S. with a court date,” which is Biden’s policy, 68% of voters chose the Trump policy.
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There is an easy win-win-win for everybody here. Zelensky could get more money to protect his borders against Russia, the public could get new policies to secure our border against migrants, and Biden could get a much-needed bipartisan win.
All Democrats have to do is admit they were completely wrong about border security and agree to reimplement Trump’s effective and popular border policies.