Biden's Border Blues

 #327: The Over/Under, Round and Through

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Vice President Kamala Harris has been tasked with border issues.  Here, listed in reverse order, are her options as I see them.  #1 is the option I expect will be chosen.  But who knows?

#6  Do Nothing.  This issue is a loser, and the more effort expended, the further it becomes your mess.  Essentially, nobody wants to say 'no' to young, desperate people eager to work hard.  But, there are hundreds of millions, if not billions, who would come if they could.

#5  An Exception To The Filibuster For Immigration.  Democrats decide to devour the 'whole enchilada'.  Negotiate with Republicans, meet with resistance, decide things among themselves.

#4  Negotiations Based On Reforming Asylum Law.  Once one realizes that as Climate Change drives hundreds of millions from their tropical and low-lying lands, offering asylum to all will become impossible.  So, why not cash in the chit now, if concessions from Republicans were on the table?  Perhaps legal status for all those already here, and a generous, but permanent level of refugee admissions.  Asylum would be reserved for prominent leaders of communities fighting for their rights.

#3  Negotiations Based On The Romney/Cotten Proposal.  Instead of the Romney/Cotton offer of a $10 minimum wage coupled with much stricter E-Verify (businesses check a government website to determine whether new hires are citizens), counter-offer $12.50, a more reliable system to check on status (several people using the same Social Security number would seem solvable), and legalization (over an extended time) for all those already here.  Be prepared to compromise.

#2  Make A Few Well-Meaning Gestures.  Since the issue is near impossible to solve, politically, keep it from getting out of hand, but don't try to fix it.  Included here is the blanket acceptance of children, financial help for Central America, cooperation with Mexico, and perhaps additional judges to hear cases.

#1  Create Difficult Votes For Republicans.  Legislation to make Dreamers (those brought to the US as children, who know no other country) full-fledged citizens would be step number one.  

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Why list them in that order?  

Putting Harris in charge probably gives Biden a few months, but eventually Harris will do something, so Doing Nothing is hard to see.  Likewise, an exception to the Senate Filibuster.  Though not out of the question, it's hard to see WV senator Joe Manchin agreeing to anything much.

#4 and #3 would risk alienating Democratic activists, on the one hand, and making it harder to win over Trump's least committed voters, on the other.  Ideally, both could be satisfied with well-thought-through legislation.  But, not likely.

And that leaves #2 and #1.  A few gestures is less likely than a vote on Dreamers simply because the Dreamers are a very sympathetic cause, and the vote is likely to be not only revealing, but also bi-partisan--at least it should be.