President Biden’s immigration policies are a frequent target of conservative and liberal media outlets and often reflect criticism from Republican and Democratic elected officials. The reaction to his Tuesday executive order restricting asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border was no different.
Conservative media outlets criticized the policy as too lenient and accused Mr. Biden of being too slow in addressing what they saw as a crisis. Some made misleading claims about the order.
Liberal media paid less attention to the news. Those who reported extensively reiterated progressives’ longstanding disappointment with Mr. Biden’s actions at the southern border. They said the order was harmful to migrants and denounced it as a version of policies favored by former President Donald J. Trump.
Here’s how some of these media outlets reported the news:
FROM THE RIGHT
Breitbart
Mr. Biden’s executive order prevents migrants from seeking asylum at the border as the number of crossings increases, one of the most restrictive U.S. immigration policies enacted by a Democrat.
But that didn’t go far enough for many conservative media outlets, including Breitbart, which peppered its website with stories criticizing Mr. Biden’s policies. Since taking office in 2021, Mr. Biden has repeatedly faced accusations from the right causing an influx of migrants across the southern border.
The site’s headlines this week highlighted the details of Biden’s order, which closed asylum access at the border starting Wednesday. The order will be lifted if daily sailings fall below 1,500 for a specified period, but will resume if it rises to 2,500.
“Joe Biden issues executive order allowing 2,500 encounters with migrants at southern border,” read a misleading Breitbart headline on June 4. The regulation does not allow anyone to enter the country illegally; it sets new asylum restrictions.
Another story published Tuesday highlighted that the media has long propagated the false far-right notion that liberal elites want to “replace.” White Americans say the government is “trying to add one migrant to the U.S. population for every two American births.”
FROM THE RIGHT
Daily caller
The Daily Caller, a conservative website that also frequently criticizes Mr. Biden’s immigration policies, argued that he could have done more to address this crisis early in his term.
In an article headlined “Biden unveils immigration executive order after months of insisting he can’t do anything,” the site’s White House correspondent, Reagan Reese, said that Mr. Biden “denies he has the ability to “To take action on the border.” Instead, they blame Republicans in Congress for the ongoing refugee crisis.”
Jason Hopkins, a contributor to the site, said the Biden administration has made a “concerted effort to reverse many of the immigration policies” of his predecessor. (Mr. Biden has rolled back many of Mr. Trump’s immigration rules Mr. Hopkins also highlighted both liberal and conservative immigration experts condemning Tuesday’s order.
FROM THE LEFT
Democracy now
Mr. Biden’s order is, in fact, similar to a 2018 policy by Mr. Trump that also sought to exclude migrants from seeking asylum and was blocked by a federal judge. This fact was not lost on some liberal media outlets and commentators, who criticized Biden for following the previous administration’s approach to immigration.
Democracy Now, a progressive online radio and television program, devoted 15 minutes of its hour-long show on Wednesday to Mr. Biden’s executive order, which host Amy Goodman said would “continue to codify the far right’s anti-immigration agenda.”
John Washington, who wrote a book advocating open borders, argued on the show that Biden’s move to the right on immigration is unlikely to be politically successful.
Democrats have “tried to lean right, abandon their principles and expect to get some political capital out of it. But it’s not working,” Mr. Washington said.
FROM THE LEFT
The raw story
The Raw Story, a liberal outlet that is often critical of Mr. Trump and Republicans, devoted little coverage to Mr. Biden’s executive order. On Tuesday, the site’s home page launched with an unrelated article about Joe Scarborough, the MSNBC host who stifled laughter on his show as he responded to a Fox News interview with Mr. Trump.
A Tuesday article touching on the order highlighted Mr. Biden’s break with the progressive wing of his party over the order. The headline read, “Biden in hot water with AOC,” referring to New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
FROM THE LEFT
Mother Jones
An article for Mother Jones, a liberal website, began with a quote from a proponent of freer borders: “Biden now fully embraces Trump’s policies as his own.” In the article, reporter Isabella Dias pointed out that Mr Biden came at a time when border crossings had declined since December.
“Despite calls from advocates and immigration experts to openly embrace a pro-immigrant agenda,” Ms. Dias wrote on Thursday, Democrats and the Biden administration “have gradually lost ground to the right.”
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2024-06-08 00:25:13
www.nytimes.com
