Now that Republicans have usurped bipartisan asylum and border security measures, Democrats believe they finally have the space to neutralize their voters and vulnerabilities on immigration. And they want to use it.
“The only silver lining here is that we've reached a final conclusion about the Republican position on the border, which is that the Republicans support chaos,” said Chris, the lead negotiator on the rejected deal.・Senator Murphy (Democrat, Connecticut) said. Who is urging all Democrats to get aggressive on this issue? “They can't imagine a world where the problems were resolved. If there wasn't a border crisis to talk about and point out, they wouldn't know what to do the next morning.”
The opening comes as an influx of immigrants dominates a highly contested special election to replace former Republican Rep. George Santos in New York's 3rd District, which has switched parties in recent years.
The Senate deal would have strengthened asylum laws and given new powers to close the border, but many Republicans opposed it just a week before Tuesday's special election in the Long Island-based district. The company collapsed after raising its voice.
And former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who is seeking a comeback, quickly seized on the opposition of Republican Maj. Pilip, who opposes the deal, in the first and only debate Thursday night.
“Unfortunately, my opponent has embraced extremism. She says she's concerned about the border, but she opposes bipartisan solutions that actually close the border,” News said. Mr. Suozzi said this in just 10 seconds of his opening remarks at the 12 New York debate.
Suozzi has gone on the offensive on border security after facing a barrage of attacks on the issue. Democrats are trying to flip a district that President Joe Biden won by 8 points in 2020, according to Daily Kos Election calculations.
Tuesday's special election in New York will provide an early glimpse into the dynamics at play in battleground states across the country. Democratic candidates have abandoned caution on border security and pounced on Republican opposition to a conservative immigration deal, accusing the party of refusing to solve the problem at the behest of former President Donald Trump. The party said the deal “should be scrapped unless it is perfect”.
“I think the fact that we can now talk openly about this and do it without too much hesitation is a gift from President Trump,” one Democratic strategist said, adding that the message “is that the Republican Party is in a mess. , it reinforces one of the public prejudices in our favor.” ”
A Newsday/Siena College poll released Thursday showed Mr. Suozzi leading Mr. Pilip, a Nassau County council member, by just 4 percentage points, which is within the poll's margin of error.Suozzi joins the team The race is high profile, having represented the previous version of the district for three terms in Congress before leaving the House to run for governor last year.
But the poll found voters were nine points more likely to say Mr Pillip would be better able to deal with the immigration crisis.
“The bottom line is the Democratic brand is not strong on this issue,” Suozzi said in a phone interview Thursday. “The fact that my head is above water here and I'm leading in the polls is because I've been very clear that I want to solve this problem and that I'm ready to fight for people.”
Indeed, Mr. Suozzi appears to be doing better than Democrats nationally on immigration.
Voters say by more than 30 points that Trump will do a better job than Biden on immigration and the border, according to the latest NBC News national poll. A Newsday/Siena College poll also found Trump leading Biden by 5 points in the 3rd Congressional District.
Republicans believe the issue of immigration, which has become a national political boon amid a strained asylum system, has given them an edge in the race. They are looking to build on recent Republican successes on Long Island.
“With all the problems, we will do well.” [are] We are on our side,” Pilip, an Ethiopian immigrant, said in a brief phone interview Thursday night.
“When we talk about border security, [Suozzi] It definitely caused problems,” she added, not citing specific vote counts but claiming that his alignment with Biden was to blame. “And people want us to protect our borders. [the] This is the biggest concern. ”
Pilip has previously called the border deal a “misfire,” saying it funds so-called sanctuary cities, doesn't provide enough money to build a wall on the southern border, and is tied to funding for Israel and Ukraine. He said he believed there was. Pilip, who lives in Israel and served in the Israel Defense Forces before coming to the United States, wants aid to Israel and Ukraine to be treated separately and is an unconditional supporter of aid to Israel.
The National Border Patrol Council also endorsed Pilip this week, even though the union supported the bipartisan agreement.
Suozzi acknowledged that the battle over the Senate's border bill will only have a concrete impact on the special election “late in the game,” but said he has kept the issue at the forefront of his campaign since the campaign began. emphasized. .
And some Democrats believe that's the best strategy going forward.
“Democrats have learned the hard way that they can't ignore the concerns of their voters,” said Steve, a former Democratic congressman who once led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and represented the old version of the 3rd District.・Mr. Israel told NBC News.
“We need to be there for them and offer common sense solutions, and Mr. Suozzi has done that,” Israel said.
Elsewhere in New York, former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones, who is challenging Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) in a battleground district, called rejection of the border deal “disgraceful.” . saying: “Mike Lawler and his Republican colleagues would rather follow Donald Trump's orders than solve the problem.”
Democrat Will Rollins, running against Representative Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) a label is attached His opponent is a career politician who wants to “campaign and raise money outside of our borders by keeping them intact.”
But it remains to be seen whether Republicans' abandonment of the bipartisan deal will change the landscape Democrats seek, as both parties work to capitalize on voter concerns over the border.
In a statement attacking the deal, Pillip echoed President Donald Trump's words, calling the situation at the southern border an “invasion” and sparking a backlash from immigrant rights advocates.
But Suozzi said at a press conference Monday that he didn't take issue with her language.
“People are concerned about people coming across the border in such an unregulated manner,” Suozzi said. “I don't think there's a problem with the language or the explanations. It's a very serious problem with people crossing borders in a disorderly and unvetted way.”
