Biden Once Rejected Trump’s Migrant Policies. Now His Ideas Echo Them

Efforts to target root causes of migration couldn’t keep up
Immigration issue has become major threat to reelection hopes

A migrant family cooks dinner over a fire as another migrant, top center, cuts through concertina wire after crossing the border in El Paso, Texas, on April 3.Source: Bloomberg

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By Eric Martin, Patricia Laya, and Maya Averbuch

April 16, 2024 at 9:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Joe Biden came into office in 2021 vowing to undo Donald Trump’s harsh policies on the US’s southern border and work with governments across Central America to reduce the motivations for their citizens to head north.

Tapping decades of experience with the region, Biden rebuilt relationships with efforts to boost economic cooperation, not just focus on keeping migrants out. He courted new leaders, alienating some old ones.