Democrats in tight races support border bill despite past opposition to stricter asylum rules and border wall money

Democrats were roundly united against former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. But as the situation at the border has worsened under President Joe Biden, many Democrats have come to embrace some of the very policies they once opposed.

Democrats were roundly united against former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. But as the situation at the border has worsened under President Joe Biden, many Democrats have come to embrace some of the very policies they once opposed. That was on display Thursday in the Senate, when a number of Democrats in tight re-election races voted for a bipartisan border bill that would’ve made it easier for the federal government to bar asylum seekers from entering the country, and included money to fund miles of new border wall. Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Jacky Rosen of Nevada both strongly opposed a measure known as Title 42 that was initiated under Trump during Covid-19 allowing officials to turn away asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border. Brown and Rosen were among 34 Democratic senators who signed onto an open letter in 2020 criticizing the Trump administration’s asylum policies, even likening them to denying safe passage to Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust in World War II. But under Biden, Brown later supported extending Title 42 before it expired in May 2023. While Rosen did not advocate for its extension, she warned that the Biden administration was underprepared for an influx of migrants when Title 42 expired. While Democrats mostly say their position has always been to support bipartisan solutions to the border crisis, their vote comes as immigration has surged to the top of voter priorities, reflecting the shifting politics around immigration and the border under Biden.