House Democrats Look to Flip the Script on Border Security

Migrants seeking asylum in the United States demonstrate on the Rio Grande to ask for authorization to enter the country, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, state of Chihuahua, Mexico, on April 25, 2024. Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images

The House Democrats’ campaign committee is embracing border security ahead of the 2024 election following years of Republican scrutiny.

The GOP has focused on chaos at the southern border as a political liability for Democrats, but a May 10 memo from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) shows they are looking to diffuse that argument and instead blame Republicans for blocking the Senate’s bipartisan border bill.

The fight over who controls the House in 2025 will be close as Republicans currently hold a slim 217–213 majority.

Record numbers of illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border recently, pushing the topic to the forefront of American politics. An April 30 Gallup poll found that voters now say immigration is the most critical issue facing the country.

A recent Harvard/Harris poll reached the same conclusion, and other polls indicate that voters favor former President Donald Trump over President Joe Biden on the subject.

Democrats are now going on the offensive over the border crisis while blaming President Trump for the failure to reach an agreement over the Senate bill.

“Because of their decision to play politics with this critical issue—with six months until Election Day—House Democrats are going on the offensive against disingenuous far-right political attacks from Republicans who joined Trump in killing a bipartisan border deal so that they could campaign on the border,” the DCCC memo reads.

This echoes remarks made by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on the Senate floor ahead of the May 9 vote on the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill.

“Our bipartisan bill was the closest Congress has been in decades to fixing our southern border until Donald Trump blew it all up for political gain,” he said.

Bipartisan Border Bill

Senate Democrats are also expected to hold a new vote on the bipartisan border bill that failed in February as the Biden administration is implementing new measures to curb illegal immigration.

The memo cites a Feb. 29 poll that found two in three Americans, or 66 percent, supported the bipartisan border bill. House Democrats blame their GOP counterparts for being “more focused on partisan games than solutions to the actual issues, such as immigration reform and border security.”

It also discusses Rep. Tom Suozzi’s (D-N.Y.) victory in February’s tough special election for former Rep. George Santos’ (R-N.Y.) seat in New York’s Third Congressional District. Mr. Suozzi campaigned on border security and his support for the bill before beating his opponent, Mazi Pilip, who called the bill an “absolute nonstarter.”

House Democrats label this a “blueprint” for beating House Republicans in other close congressional races. They plan to make it “clear to voters that only one party is serious when it comes to finding solutions to secure the border.”

Republicans, however, have pushed back against this narrative and claim Mr. Suozzi’s name recognition and Ms. Pilip’s relative inexperience were bigger factors for the election win rather than positions on immigration reform.

Additionally, the Democrat-controlled Senate declined to consider a border bill passed by House Republicans in 2023.

Jack Pandol, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said focusing on the border will not help Democrats.

“Over 500 open border executive actions, zero House Democratic votes for the Secure the Border Act, and 2 million illegal crossings every year since Biden took office,” he wrote on social media on Friday. “If House Democrats want to talk about their record on border security, it’s their political funeral.”

The DCCC memo highlights several congressional races in which Democrats are using border reform as a campaign strategy to beat Republicans. Some of those races include Kirsten Engel vying for Rep. Juan Ciscomani’s (R-Ariz.) seat in Arizona’s Sixth District, Mondaire Jones fighting Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) for New York’s 17th District, and Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.) defending her seat in Michigan’s Third District.

“Frontline Democrats and Democratic challengers will continue to go on offense and make it clear that we are the only party focused on real solutions, and when voters make their voices heard, the new Democratic majority will get to work to deliver those results,” the memo reads.

President Biden is also trying to combat Republican messaging that holds him responsible for the recent surge in illegal immigration at the southern border. On May 9, his administration proposed a new rule that fast-tracks the asylum process for migrants while allowing authorities to quickly refuse requests by those who commit serious crimes or are linked to terrorism.

“The proposed rule we have published today is yet another step in our ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of the American public by more quickly identifying and removing those individuals who present a security risk and have no legal basis to remain here,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said.

Mr. Ciscomani said the proposed asylum rule is “unserious” and will do little to nothing to address illegal immigration.

“The Biden administration wants to fool Americans into thinking they finally want to fix the crisis they created,” he wrote on social media on Friday. “In reality it is, at best, a marginal change that won’t even move the needle.”

T.J. Muscaro contributed to this report.