2024 Presidential Election Thread

[beefytee]

My favorite immigration stunt was deSantis flying migrants from Texas to Martha's Vinyard. The fraud that happened to get them there resulted in the immigrants getting U-Visas, short circuiting them to getting permanent residency.

Migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard may get visas after being declared victims of crime | Texas | The Guardian

[USUC]

No, since it's been a problem for decades that zero politicians have the political will to address. But now blaming Biden for it is just as funny. The surge is 100% on Trump and Biden's problem is he still wants to offer an olive branch to the anti-immigrant crowd and hasn't done anything about it. That's a problem for me as much as it is for anyone else, but not something to get me to consider Trump for even half of a second.

How is the surge only Trump's fault? Keep in mind Trump hasn't been in office since Jan 2021.

[Jeff Lebowski]

No, since it's been a problem for decades that zero politicians have the political will to address. But now blaming Biden for it is just as funny. The surge is 100% on Trump and Biden's problem is he still wants to offer an olive branch to the anti-immigrant crowd and hasn't done anything about it. That's a problem for me as much as it is for anyone else, but not something to get me to consider Trump for even half of a second.

Yes. Biden hasn't done anything about it. Therein lies the problem.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Case in point on trump electability:

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/0...oblem-00137112

Donald Trump has a problem no matter what happens in New Hampshire on Tuesday night: There’s a whole swath of the Republican electorate and a good chunk of independents who appear firmly committed to not voting for him in November if he becomes the nominee.

It’s an issue that became starkly apparent in polling ahead of the Iowa caucuses, when an NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of voters in that state found that fully 43 percent of Nikki Haley supporters said they would back President Joe Biden over Trump. And it’s a dynamic that has been on vivid display as the campaign shifted this week to New Hampshire.

“I can’t vote for Trump. He’s a crook. He’s too corrupt,” said Scott Simeone, 64, an independent voter from Amherst, who backed Trump in 2016 and 2020. “I voted for him, and I didn’t realize he’s as corrupt as he is.”

[Northwestcoug]

My favorite immigration stunt was deSantis flying migrants from Texas to Martha's Vinyard. The fraud that happened to get them there resulted in the immigrants getting U-Visas, short circuiting them to getting permanent residency.

Migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard may get visas after being declared victims of crime | Texas | The Guardian

I didn’t need other reasons to write him off as Trump lite, but this stands out as a jarringly unethical thing to do, all in an effort to score cheap political points. And it did absolutely nothing for him in the end.


I would like to think someone in his circles refused to go along with the planning of this. At least I hope so.

[BlueK]

Yes. Biden hasn't done anything about it. Therein lies the problem.

Not sure any president can do much about it when almost half of Congress is hell bent on the idea that the only acceptable policy is "everyone stay the hell out!" And immigration policy can mostly only be fixed through better legislation. Almost anything a president might try to do on his own is going to be struck down by the Supreme Court who will say it's up to the legislative branch.

[Commando]

My favorite immigration stunt was deSantis flying migrants from Texas to Martha's Vinyard. The fraud that happened to get them there resulted in the immigrants getting U-Visas, short circuiting them to getting permanent residency.

Migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard may get visas after being declared victims of crime | Texas | The Guardian

I specialize in U visas. If that attorney gets cooperation from the prosecutor up there, that's a very savvy move. However, there is no such thing as a U Visa short circuit, since if they file today they may not even get nonimmigrant U status for maybe 15 years. It's still better than an asylum application, though.

[falafel]

Not sure any president can do much about it when almost half of Congress is hell bent on the idea that the only acceptable policy is "everyone stay the hell out!" And immigration policy can mostly only be fixed through better legislation. Almost anything a president might try to do on his own is going to be struck down by the Supreme Court who will say it's up to the legislative branch.

That may all be true, but the perception is the Biden isn't doing anything and people continue to flow over the border into the U.S. What makes it worse is that Texas decided if the feds won't act, we will and put prison wire in the river. And now Biden is seen as preventing what many people probably see as a decent attempt at controlling the problem. Even if Biden had to act to protect his federal authority and prevent states from usurping that authority. General public doesn't understand that and certainly doesn't care about that.

[BlueK]

That may all be true, but the perception is the Biden isn't doing anything and people continue to flow over the border into the U.S. What makes it worse is that Texas decided if the feds won't act, we will and put prison wire in the river. And now Biden is seen as preventing what many people probably see as a decent attempt at controlling the problem. Even if Biden had to act to protect his federal authority and prevent states from usurping that authority. General public doesn't understand that and certainly doesn't care about that.

Yeah can't really argue with you much here about public perception.

[Commando]

Not sure any president can do much about it when almost half of Congress is hell bent on the idea that the only acceptable policy is "everyone stay the hell out!" And immigration policy can mostly only be fixed through better legislation. Almost anything a president might try to do on his own is going to be struck down by the Supreme Court who will say it's up to the legislative branch.

I wonder if it's lost on anybody that it's really on Congress to regulate the border-- not the President via executive fiat? lol Johnson has his marching orders from Trump to not fix jack shit until after the election.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Some leadership and urgency from Biden would be nice. Get out in front of this - don't let trump leverage it, because things are totally out of control and it will be a huge issue for voters.

[BlueK]

Some leadership and urgency from Biden would be nice. Get out in front of this - don't let trump leverage it, because things are totally out of control and it will be a huge issue for voters.

Yeah, he should have communicated much better on this. The truth is the majority of Americans are moderate on immigration but Biden's failure to capitalize on that allows the extremist views to run the show.

[falafel]

Some leadership and urgency from Biden would be nice. Get out in front of this - don't let trump leverage it, because things are totally out of control and it will be a huge issue for voters.

I feel like he did reach out to Rs in Congress and said let's compromise on Ukraine and the border and get something done. But I haven't seen any movement from the House or Senate.

This is one of those things that is probably wrongly imputed to the President.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I feel like he did reach out to Rs in Congress and said let's compromise on Ukraine and the border and get something done. But I haven't seen any movement from the House or Senate.

This is one of those things that is probably wrongly imputed to the President.

Perception is reality. Biden has shown weak leadership on this isssue.

We have democratic mayors and governors in full-on crisis mode publicly expressing exasperation of the issue, including a lack of support and leadership from the president.

Case in point:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/22/n...en-policy.html

Nine Democratic governors have joined together to urge the Biden administration and congressional leaders to address what they call “a humanitarian crisis” created by the surge of migrants seeking refuge in the United States.

The governors, led by Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, asked in a letter to the White House and Congress for “a serious commitment” to overhauling the immigration system that would include federal coordination on a strategy to relieve pressure on the southern and northern borders, as well as for more funds for states.

“It is clear our national immigration system is outdated and unprepared to respond to this unprecedented global migration,” reads the letter, which is signed by Ms. Hochul and the governors of Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland.

[falafel]

Perception is reality. Biden has shown weak leadership on this isssue.

We have democratic mayors and governors in full-on crisis mode publicly expressing exasperation of the issue, including a lack of support and leadership from the president.

Case in point:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/22/n...en-policy.html

Yes, that is a good point. He could be putting more pressure on Congress to move. But I'm not sure what else he could do. I suppose there are things ICE could do, but I'm not knowledgeable about those things. Commando could probably give us his opinions.