The White House statement comes after a week of frantic negotiations in the Senate.

President Joe Biden on Friday urged Congress to pass a bipartisan bill to address the immigration crisis at the nation’s southern border, saying he would shut down the border the day the bill became law.

“What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said in a statement. “It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”

Biden’s Friday evening statement resembles a ramping up in rhetoric for the administration, placing the president philosophically in the camp arguing that the border may hit a point where closure is needed. The White House’s decision to have Biden weigh in also speaks to the delicate nature of the dealmaking, and the urgency facing his administration to take action on the border — particularly during an election year, when Republicans have used the issue to rally their base.

The president is also daring Republicans to reject the deal as it faces a make-or-break moment amid GOP fissures.

  • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Fucking hell, here’s to hoping Congressional Republicans are too self defeating to pass this fucking trash, the fact that Democratic negotiators thought this was a good idea - like, right after the fucking Trump administration, thought “yeah, let’s give the executive branch more power to be assholes to immigrants” - is just mind boggling

    Then again, it feels pretty similar to Obama trying to work with Republicans to gut social security a few years after 2008, so maybe I should stop being surprised by these things

    • Mario_Dies.wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      11 months ago

      “We won’t negotiate with terrorists and fascists.”

      Immediately negotiates with terrorists and fascists

      You mention Obama. I remember in 2008 being so enthused that I volunteered for his campaign and poured my heart out, only to get … what we got. I don’t see this pattern ever changing. We really need to find a way out of this two-party system. I’m not sure what that way is, but we so desperately need it.

      • zarkanian
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        11 months ago

        Vote for alternative parties and push for Ranked Choice Voting.

        • Mario_Dies.wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          11 months ago

          So you disagree with the narrative that voting third party is a vote for Republicans?

          And I’m not sure what else to do to push for ranked choice voting besides talking about it. I’m very involved locally, but that doesn’t seem to help the national political hellscape.

          • zarkanian
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            11 months ago

            So you disagree with the narrative that voting third party is a vote for Republicans?

            You should vote for the best candidate on the ballot. Otherwise, the system doesn’t work.

            You also should do the right thing, even if other people refuse.

          • MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Primary conservative Democrats and run candidates that support RCV. This is a generation long fight. Look at how the GOP has shifted over the past 40-50 years. This was from a long sustained project of focusing on local/state elections, vigorously primarying from the right, and capturing courts. We have to be more dedicated than they were, and they were dedicated as fuck. That’s how we get actual electoral power.

            • Mario_Dies.wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              11 months ago

              The hard part is we also have to avoid throwing marginalized groups under the bus in exchange for the smallest amount of perceived political favor. Looks to me like Democrats are failing epically at that.

              There are certain things that are just baseline unacceptable, no matter how much the public may clamor for them. This is one of those things.

          • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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            11 months ago

            exactly right. we have no choices as its ‘fascist vs not faschist’’ there are no options there unless youre a terribly human being

            ranked choice is all we have, and ill be long dead before that hits the national scene

            • Mario_Dies.wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              11 months ago

              Any ideas of what we can do in the meantime to move toward a better system? Even though you’re right that we’ll both probably be dead before there’s any real change, what can we do right now to help?

              I’ve tried educating people, provided information about evading deportation, and a lot on a personal level, but there’s got to be some way to move things in a way that it can potentially stop this raging hate boner people have for Latin American immigrants.

              • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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                11 months ago

                i wish. im centered in a redneck capital and it blows chunks. most of the people around here are completely ignorant and vote R because they always have, their parents did and its the ‘right thing’… and then they promptly turn their brains off.

                i have taken to new terminology, and it seems to at least cause people pause… ive been using the term ‘humans’ when conversing with moron conservatives.

                it feels like fauxnews and other propoganda is designed to de-humanize…well… everyone. So im working to re-inject it into the argument.

                i had one collage educated woman tell me jesus would not have fed people who didnt have jobs. wut.

                my well of hope is running dry. patience ran out years ago when obama not only did nothing, but worked to prevent Bernie

                obama can eat a bag of dicks. what fucking useless conservative.

                • Mario_Dies.wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  11 months ago

                  Yeah I live in a redneck hellhole as well, and I look like a redneck so people disclose to me their most atrocious opinions. I’ve tried similar things to what you’re describing, and I guess that’s the best thing we can do. Some people are totally lost, but other have just been heavily propagandized to the point that they don’t reflect at all on the opinions they have.