John Kerry says Democrats allowed migrant 'siege' of US border
Former US Secretary of State John Kerry has told the BBC his fellow Democrats allowed the US-Mexico border to be "under siege" during Joe Biden's presidency.
In sometimes sharp words, Kerry - who was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004 and a US senator from Massachusetts - said he told Biden the party had "missed" on the issue of immigration for years.
He said this had allowed Republicans like Donald Trump to gain political advantage.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 7 | July 10, 2025 5:42 PM
|
The comments, made during an interview with BBC special correspondent James Naughtie, underscore an ongoing debate within his party over whether their pro-immigration policies cost them in recent elections.
Democrats have also wrestled with how they should handle Trump's recent nationwide attempts to detain and deport undocumented migrants
"The first thing any president should say - or anybody in public life - is without a border protected, you don't have a nation," Kerry said. "I wish President Biden had been heard more often saying, I'm going to enforce the law."
Such words have been a familiar refrain for Trump during his time in national politics and were included in the 2024 Republican Party policy platform.
But Democrats - many of whom advocate more relaxed immigration laws and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented migrants - attempted to portray Trump's positions as harsh and discriminatory.
According to Kerry, that was a mistake.
"Trump was right," Kerry said. "The problem is we all should have been right."
In the first six months of Trump's second term in office, illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border have dropped to near record lows - although the downward trend began during the last year of the Biden presidency, after the Democrat tightened some asylum rules.
The Trump administration has now shifted its focus to identification, detention and deportation of documented migrants across the US, expanding its efforts to include those who have resided in the US for years.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | July 10, 2025 1:48 PM
|
Of course, in one term Biden was supposed to fix all of the problems caused by cheeto's first administration, including the national health disaster caused by covid which was so mismanaged that millions of people died before it was brought under control.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | July 10, 2025 1:53 PM
|
Will his Pakistani human hair wig be deported from his head?
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 3 | July 10, 2025 2:26 PM
|
Shut the fuck up, Frankenstein.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | July 10, 2025 3:17 PM
|
Why don’t we just join the Republican party then? If the Democratic leaders and old guard want to keep lecturing to the public that we aren’t right wing enough just disband the entire party.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | July 10, 2025 3:23 PM
|
And we wonder why Democrats can't win consistent loyalty from voters--or elections.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | July 10, 2025 3:25 PM
|