GOP's Border Focus Putting Pressure on Swing-District Dems

The GOP effort to solidify immigration as a decisive issue in the November election is reportedly intensifying pressure on swing-district Democrats amid the party's fight to win control of Congress.

Amid former President Donald Trump's sharp criticism of border policies, President Joe Biden has adopted a stricter tone on the issue — including saying he'd shut down the border immediately if given the chance, the Associated Press reported.

The same theme is playing out down ballet as well, with some Democrats becoming more outspoken about stronger border security and harsher immigration policies, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The outlet reported 37 Democrats voted this month for the Laken Riley Act, which would require the Homeland Security Department to detain immigrants arrested on suspicion of theft-related crimes. Just days later, 14 Democrats voted for a resolution denouncing the Biden administration's open-borders policies, the Times reported.

Chris Tausanovitch, a political science professor at UCLA who studies Congress, told the outlet Republicans designed recent immigration-related bills to win over politically vulnerable Democrats.

"We know the situation at the border has changed massively," he told the outlet. "Border security has always been popular among the American public. Politically, that is a smart swing-seat stance."

Senate Democrats, with a slim majority, blocked the Laken Riley Act from moving forward, and Tausanovitch told the outlet some House Democrats who voted for it might not have if the measure stood a chance of becoming law.

"The fact that these bills do not have a chance of passing makes it a political win-win for a moderate Democrat who wants to show that they really have a harsh stance on immigration," he said.

The legislation was named for a Georgia college student slain in February with a suspect in her death who reportedly entered the U.S. unlawfully in 2022 and was released by Border Patrol. The bill would also allow states to sue the federal government over alleged failures related to immigration enforcement.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., condemned the 170 Democrats who voted against the bill.

"Sadly, if these Democrats have their way, there will be more victims like Laken Riley," Johnson said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Meanwhile, a group of 26 House Democrats formed the Democrats for Border Security Task Force this month, and is led by Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas and Tom Suozzi of New York.

Sen. Christopher Murphy of Connecticut in February also urged fellow Democrats in a memo to emphasize the border and immigration.

Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada, who voted for the resolution condemning Biden's policies and for the Laken Riley Act, told the LA Times she's always been strong on border security.

"Do these resolutions have language that I don't 100% support? Absolutely," Lee said in response to pushback from constituents.

"But the fact of the matter is it's not just our border security. We obviously need to have a border and respect that border, but more importantly we need to reform our immigration system. This is something that Congress has failed to do for the last 30 years."