Some Democrats are joining with Republicans lobbying to keep Title 42

Some Democrats² are joining with Republicans lobbying to keep Title 42

Transcript³

NPR's A Martinez asks Democratic analyst⁴ Maria Cardona about moderate Democrats, who have broken with the White House over plans to lift Title 42 restrictions⁵ on migrant border crossings.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

President Biden faces growing criticism and legal challenges to his decision to lift Title 42. That's the public health order imposed by the Trump⁶ White House to keep migrants out of the U.S. during the pandemic. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was called to Capitol Hill to defend the Biden administration's decision to rescind⁷ it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS: With the Title 42 public health order set to be lifted, we expect migration⁸ levels to increase as smugglers seek to take advantage of and profit from vulnerable migrants. We will continue to enforce our immigration laws.

MART?NEZ: However, Republicans such as Kevin McCarthy say if Biden rolls back Title 42, illegal immigration will get worse. And now a growing number of Democrats also want the president to leave it in place for the moment at least. Maria Cardona is a Democratic strategist with the Dewey Square Group. Maria, back in 2020, Democrats railed against the Trump administration for using Title 42. Now some of them want Biden to keep it. So what's up with the 180?

MARIA CARDONA: Well, hey, A. First of all, good morning. Buenos dias. Thank you for having me. Look - from the very beginning, Title 42 was a health policy. It's a public health authority. Never was it intended to be an immigration policy. But what happened was that under the Trump administration, who were focused on divisive, fear-based, xenophobic immigration policies, they implemented⁹ it as a way to keep migrants out. Now what we're seeing is the Republican Party, as per usual, want to continue to weaponize Title 42 to increase fear among their xenophobic base, which is the only way they know how to mobilize it, and try to use it against Democrats. Democrats understand this.

MART?NEZ: So why are Democrats - yeah, why are Democrats seemingly, some of them, going along with it, though?

CARDONA: Well, as you know, we are looking at a very tough midterm for Democrats. So they understand what the GOP is trying to do here. And they know that as they weaponize immigration, they're going to use it against them in the midterms. But, look - there's no question that the majority of Democrats - frankly¹⁰, every single Democrat¹ and I hope some commonsense¹¹ Republicans, though not enough - really want to focus on solutions, A, and solutions require a comprehensive immigration policy that focuses on increasing security at the border and then looking at commonsense ways to regularize the flow between people who want to come here to work, the need for people to come here to work, all focused on making sure that it is done in an unchaotic, safe manner, humanely¹² at the border, which is what the majority of Americans want. Republicans are focused on fear mongering and weaponizing immigration.

MART?NEZ: But so on that - yeah.

CARDONA: They should try to focus on solutions.

MART?NEZ: Maria, so on that, over the years I've talked with dozens of immigration advocates who always seem to have the same lament¹³ - that D.C. will always find a way to kick the can on immigration reform. If Title 42 in this case stays in place, despite President Biden's campaign promise to end it, how can voters trust anyone that makes immigration a campaign pillar?

CARDONA: That's a really good question, A. What they can look at is the history of this and look at the parties and the leaders who have actually tried to push real immigration solutions. Democrats tried to do this back in 2013. We were on the verge¹⁴ of passing comprehensive immigration reform with a handful of, back then, commonsense Republicans who helped pass it in the Senate. When it got to the House, as you recall, it was Republican president of the - leader of the House, John Boehner, who essentially¹⁵ told President Obama, I'm not going to bring this up in the House because I know it will pass with majority Democratic support, and I can't have that. That is not leadership, A. So what Americans can count on is that Democrats will always come forward with real solutions. What they need to push is their Republican leadership to stop fearmongering and help the Democrats come to the table with Democrats...

MART?NEZ: Right.

CARDONA: ...To focus on real solutions for the benefit of the country.

MART?NEZ: Speaking of leadership, though, 'cause President Biden is the leader of the Democratic Party, when it comes to moderate Democrats and also, say, vulnerable Democrats who want him to keep Title 42 in place and then progressive Democrats who aren't happy that there could be a delay or that it might stay in place for a while, how can he, as a leader of the party, find some unifying¹⁶ middle ground ahead of November?

CARDONA: I think he needs to continue to talk about what the solutions are. And this administration and, again, Democrats have put forward real comprehensive solutions. The administration has this in Biden's agenda. They have increased security measures to reduce the chaos¹⁷ at the border, to reduce the unsafety that is what - is happening now, right? Let's look at what Title 42 has done. Title 42 has actually caused a fourfold increase in the chaos at the border. It has - never was supposed to be a solution. So again, let's focus on what should be real commonsense solutions to this problem.

MART?NEZ: Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. Thanks a lot.

CARDONA: Thank you.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 rescind   

v.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan.他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。
• Trade Union leaders have demanded the government rescind the price rise.工会领导已经要求政府阻止价格上涨。

8 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

9 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

10 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

11 commonsense   

adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的

参考例句：

• It is commonsense to carry an umbrella in this weather.这种天气带把伞是很自然的。
• These results are no more than a vindication of commonsense analysis.这些结果只不过是按常理分析得出的事实。

12 humanely   

adv.仁慈地；人道地；富人情地；慈悲地

参考例句：

• Is the primary persona being treated humanely by the product? 该产品对待首要人物角色时是否有人情味？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In any event, China's interest in treating criminals more humanely has limits. 无论如何，中国对更人道地对待罪犯的兴趣有限。 来自互联网

13 lament   

n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹

参考例句：

• Her face showed lament.她的脸上露出悲伤的样子。
• We lament the dead.我们哀悼死者。

14 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

15 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

16 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

17 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。