Samuel Corum/Sipa/AP

In 2020, Joe Biden campaigned on the idea that Trump-era immigration policies amounted to “a moral failure and a national shame.” Now, he is backing a border deal that is so aligned with conservative goals that it causes glee: “[W]e would never get [these measures] in a Republican Senate,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) recently gushed, “even with a Republican president.”

Under electoral pressure, and with unprecedented numbers of migrants arriving in the southwest, Biden has made a radical U-turn. He has recently vowed to close the border and now endorsed what would be the most restrictive overhaul of the immigration system in decades.

As a candidate in 2020, Biden set bold goals. His policy proposals, as the Washington Post wrote at the time, came close to a “wish list” for immigrant rights advocates. An empath at heart, we were told, the candidate Biden positioned himself as the right leader to restore a “fair and humane immigration system” and reclaim “America’s moral leadership.” His campaign website promised to stop the “unrelenting assault on our values” ushered in by former president Donald Trump—the deliberate separation of migrant families, the detention of children, and the mass raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

But last month, the president began urging Congress to approve a border deal—as part of the never-ending bipartisan Senate negotiations tied to a White House national security funding request to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan—that includes concessions immigration advocates have decried as “unconscionable.” The deal is a departure from Democrats’ longstanding commitment to push for the legalization of undocumented immigrants in any legislation advancing border enforcement.

His new promise on immigration is clear: If given the authority, Biden said at a political event in South Carolina, “I’d shut down the border right now and fix it quickly.” And campaign website immigration page that called for moral leadership is now empty. (It features laser-eyed Biden, the words “You found Dark Brandon,” and a request to buy a t-shirt.)

We’ve reached an agreement on a bipartisan deal that includes the toughest and fairest set of border reforms in decades. And it includes support for Ukraine and Israel and provides humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people.

I urge Congress to pass this bill immediately. pic.twitter.com/jGuiDDxIO9

— President Biden (@POTUS) February 5, 2024

At the center of Biden’s 2024 pitch is the recently announced bipartisan immigration agreement. The embattled $118 billion........

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