A lot of but certainly not all Dems (for example, Jayapal) support essentially unlimited asylum claims admitted to the US while claims are processed (i.e., not "Remain in Mexico"). This is a de facto open border policy; the vast majority of claims are bogus, but the claim gets you into the country and then most who are denied will overstay illegally as well.
Radiolab (the podcast) did a good series on border policy that was pretty informative.
IIRC, the US-Mexico border was never open, but it was quite porous. People would come to the US, work for a season to make some money, then go home.
Then once border security started to be tightened, leaving was too risky so people would stay leading to a huge increase in the number of undocumented people living in the US.
- Brad Lander (NY-10, defeated incumbent Dan Goldman): Longtime advocate for abolishing ICE. He has been arrested while intervening at immigration courts to protect immigrants and ensure due process.
"I first called for abolishing ICE in 2018... Our movement is fighting to abolish ICE." (Social media/campaign statements).
Vowed to fight ICE's "cruelty" and protect "immigrant neighbors." He emphasizes sanctuary city enforcement and due process for all.
- Darializa Avila Chevalier (NY-13, defeated incumbent Adriano Espaillat): DSA member, strong abolitionist stance.
Supports abolishing ICE, opposes all forms of deportation and detention.
"I have yet to come up with a reason for why deportation has been used in a way that isn't rooted in deeply racist ideology." (June 2026 interview).
Called free movement an "ideal vision" (noting capital moves freely but people are restricted). She also opposes policing and borders in broader terms.
- Claire Valdez (NY-7): DSA-backed progressive who won her primary. Part of the Mamdani slate emphasizing immigrant justice; aligned with the group's platform calling to demilitarize borders, end detention/deportations, and expand rights/services for all immigrants regardless of status
Biden, his party, and some Republicans worked for years on the toughest border legislation ever endorsed by a Democratic president. Trump demanded it be shot down so he'd still have an issue to campaign on.
(Also, FWIW, those immigration surges were good things (for the US), and likely helped the US stick the "soft landing" instead of slipping into a post-covid recession)
the graph actually makes it look like the jump was due to Trump's policies, since the spike started in his term. if anything the graph shows that Biden policies arrested it shortly after. I recall reading deportations were actually very high during Biden's term.
A lot of but certainly not all Dems (for example, Jayapal) support essentially unlimited asylum claims admitted to the US while claims are processed (i.e., not "Remain in Mexico"). This is a de facto open border policy; the vast majority of claims are bogus, but the claim gets you into the country and then most who are denied will overstay illegally as well.
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Radiolab (the podcast) did a good series on border policy that was pretty informative.
IIRC, the US-Mexico border was never open, but it was quite porous. People would come to the US, work for a season to make some money, then go home.
Then once border security started to be tightened, leaving was too risky so people would stay leading to a huge increase in the number of undocumented people living in the US.
Here in NY:
- Brad Lander (NY-10, defeated incumbent Dan Goldman): Longtime advocate for abolishing ICE. He has been arrested while intervening at immigration courts to protect immigrants and ensure due process. "I first called for abolishing ICE in 2018... Our movement is fighting to abolish ICE." (Social media/campaign statements). Vowed to fight ICE's "cruelty" and protect "immigrant neighbors." He emphasizes sanctuary city enforcement and due process for all.
- Darializa Avila Chevalier (NY-13, defeated incumbent Adriano Espaillat): DSA member, strong abolitionist stance. Supports abolishing ICE, opposes all forms of deportation and detention. "I have yet to come up with a reason for why deportation has been used in a way that isn't rooted in deeply racist ideology." (June 2026 interview). Called free movement an "ideal vision" (noting capital moves freely but people are restricted). She also opposes policing and borders in broader terms.
- Claire Valdez (NY-7): DSA-backed progressive who won her primary. Part of the Mamdani slate emphasizing immigrant justice; aligned with the group's platform calling to demilitarize borders, end detention/deportations, and expand rights/services for all immigrants regardless of status
Abolishing ICE and demilitarizing borders is not the same thing as supporting open borders.
nobody does. It's a made up fantasy by fox news.
Biden. His policies led to a huge increase in illegal immigration.
Look at the huge jump due to his policies: https://www.economist.com/content-assets/images/20240127_EPC...
The same was not true for Obama, who was actually much better than Bush.
A better chart: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/f3fb/live/1ca3d...
What was the policy change though?
Biden, his party, and some Republicans worked for years on the toughest border legislation ever endorsed by a Democratic president. Trump demanded it be shot down so he'd still have an issue to campaign on.
Biden did not support "open borders", nor did he cause the immigration surges during his term. CATO of all places refutes both of these ideas:
- https://www.cato.org/blog/biden-didnt-cause-border-crisis-pa...
- https://www.cato.org/blog/biden-didnt-cause-border-crisis-pa...
- https://www.cato.org/blog/biden-didnt-cause-border-crisis-pa...
(Also, FWIW, those immigration surges were good things (for the US), and likely helped the US stick the "soft landing" instead of slipping into a post-covid recession)
the graph actually makes it look like the jump was due to Trump's policies, since the spike started in his term. if anything the graph shows that Biden policies arrested it shortly after. I recall reading deportations were actually very high during Biden's term.