Will The Republican Border Security Bait-And-Switch Backfire?

This week on Politix, Matt and Brian discuss:

• How we reached the point where Republicans wrung a bunch of immigration-policy concessions out of Democrats, then reneged on their own deal.

• What was actually in the deal and why?

• Would the provisions of the bill have actually succeeded at the nominal goal of creating more order and better asylum screening at the border?

Then, paid subscribers hear a more open ended conversation and debate over whether the concessions Democrats offered were wise politically and substantively, whether they needed to engage this issue on Republican terms in the first place, and whether the GOP’s turn to sabotage will allow Democrats to seize and hold the center on immigration in a way that lastingly hurts Donald Trump. Plus, Matt gratuitously slags Tracy Chapman, forcing Brian to take a brave stand on behalf of Good Music.

Further reading:

• Matt argues that bureaucratic obstacles to implementing a working border policy, like ineffective polygraph screening for would-be agents, should be done away with—and would make implementing a border deal before the election very hard.

• Brian on how Biden can win the ensuing infowars over GOP border sabotage, but only if he browbeats mainstream news into covering Trump and the GOP’s dirty dealing forthrightly.

• The Democrats should fully embrace both halves of the old border-security-for-Republicans/legalization-for-Democrats consensus.