Democrats Twist and Turn on Immigration as Republicans Attack in Waves

The language from Republican candidates in ads and speeches is clear and negative, using the 2,000-mile border between the United States and Mexico as a stark partisan dividing line.

President Biden’s policies, they argue, have led to unchecked borders and allowed immigrants, crime and fentanyl to pour into cities, turning every state into a border state.

Democratic candidates have a far murkier message, either avoiding the issue or leaning into tough talk that often addresses immigration on Republican terms. In Ohio, Representative Tim Ryan, the party’s nominee for Senate, said a border wall could be “a piece” of the solution. In Arizona, Senator Mark Kelly has called for more border enforcement officers and “physical barriers where they make sense.”

In the final stretch of this year’s midterm elections, the longtime struggle by Democrats to build a cohesive approach to immigration has become newly urgent for the party as it confronts a wave of attacks in Republicans’ closing pitch to the country.

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