Biden wants to change the conversation about immigration and crime
For years, Republicans have attacked President Biden and Democrats for policies they say are too lax in curbing immigration and curbing violent crime.
This week, with a planned trip to the border and remarks delivered alongside police chiefs gathered at the White House on Wednesday, Mr. Biden is trying to change the conversation by saying he is making progress on that front despite Republican intransigence .
In remarks at the White House, Mr Biden said a stimulus package passed without Republican support during the coronavirus pandemic had made $350 billion available to local communities in the United States. There was flexibility on how the money could be spent, but Mr. Biden has repeatedly insisted that it be used to strengthen local law enforcement efforts.
“Thanks to my American Rescue Plan, which I might note not a single person on the other team voted for, we have made $350 billion — $350 billion — available to address these problems,” Mr. Biden said, referring the Republican inaction on his signature legislation. “Additionally, we are hiring more U.S. attorneys, recruiting more U.S. marshals, and investing more in technology and training to reduce court backlogs, solve homicides and address the apprehension of violent fugitives.”
Mr. Biden appeared determined to push back against Republicans who have used crime and immigration to say that the policies favored by the president and many Democrats have only led to an increase in crime, some of which is fueled by undocumented immigrants. The president has gone on the offensive on both issues, and recent crime data has given Mr. Biden a boost: Homicides and shootings have declined nationally in 2023.
But those numbers remain higher than before the coronavirus pandemic and reports of mass shootings in big cities like Chicagocontinues to dominate the news.
Mr. Biden’s aides have sought to highlight Republican-led attacks on the FBI amid federal investigations into former President Donald J. Trump as evidence that the Republican Party is attacking federal law enforcement.
Mr. Biden has also increasingly taken a page from the Republican playbook by accusing the Republican Party of neglecting the border crisis after Republicans in the House of Representatives opposed a bipartisan immigration bill in the Senate. Many of those Republicans were not eager to grant Biden an election-year victory on an issue they prefer to use as political ammunition.
Mr. Biden has tried to show that he is a defender and funder of police in the face of Republican attacks and that he is weak on law and order. At a closed-door meeting, Mr. Biden told police leaders that he was still pushing for an assault weapons law and “underscored the importance of community policing,” said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, which advises departments on best practices.
Mr. Biden asked police chiefs what they thought about teams of mental health professionals responding to some emergency calls instead of police officers, Mr. Wexler said. The president also told the audience that there was a perception among Americans that the country was facing a retail crime problem and asked leaders for their views. Mr. Biden did not preview new policy announcements to law enforcement officials.
The meeting felt like when police chiefs “met Senator Joe Biden for the first time and he pushed the crime bill, the assault weapons bill and community policing,” Mr. Wexler said. “Here we are thirty years later.”
That 1994 crime law proved a political liability for Mr. Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign. Many experts say it has fueled mass incarceration, though the administration continued to defend aspects of the bill that banned assault weapons and supported drug courts for first-time offenders.
When he came to power, Mr. Biden emphasized that by investing in law enforcement, he could strike a balance between fighting crime and seeking police accountability.
Some advocates have said the Biden administration needs to work harder to ensure federal funds are used appropriately. Although the administration has said states have spent billions of dollars in pandemic relief funds on such initiatives, a report from the University of Illinois, Chicagofound that some local governments diverted money to police departments while reporting the expenditures as investments in community violence intervention programs.
Mr. Biden also issued an executive order on police reform last year, though it mostly directly affected federal law enforcement. After some delay he also started one police accountability database in December.
“Our plan is working, and we have much more to do, as everyone at this table knows,” Mr. Biden said on Wednesday, adding: “My administration is going to put progress over politics, and communities across the country are safer . ”
For their part, Republicans are opposing Biden’s efforts.
“Violent crime is devastating our cities because of the pro-crime policies of Joe Biden and the Democrats,” the Republican National Committee said in a statement released Wednesday. “It’s no wonder why people feel less safe than when Biden took office: he will always prioritize criminals over families, and he is not fit for the job.”