New Democrat Coalition, Congressman Vasquez advocate an economic focused approach to immigration

A coalition of centrist Democrats led by New Mexico Congressman Gabe Vasquez released a new policy framework last week, advocating for more border security dollars and faster legal pathways to citizenship, including some policy stances that 20 years ago would likely have been championed by Republicans.

While border security and mass deportations proved a winning issue for President Donald Trump in last year’s election, over the last two decades Congress has shied away from taking action on an issue that touches so many people and that can create unusual alliances.

That has left immigration policy under the direction of the executive branch, leading to big shifts depending on which party holds the presidency and how well the economy is doing.

“Even though the vast majority of Americans believe that (immigration) is an important issue, they don’t always agree on why it’s an important issue,” said Cory Sukala, a New Mexico State University government professor.

The lack of consensus on what addressing immigration means combined with the myriad issues it connects to, like national security, drug trafficking, state surveillance, minimum wage laws, local economies and racism, mean political stances on immigration tend to be fluid over time.

But Democrats and Republicans have shifted right on immigration policy in recent years, according to Sukala.

Founded in 1997, the New Democrat Coalition is a group of 115 House lawmakers that advocates for bridging “partisan divide with a solutions-oriented approach to politics,” according to its website. The newly released framework calls for upgrading ports of entry, better funding the Department of Homeland Security, prioritizing deportations of people convicted of violent crimes, humane detention centers, more pathways to citizenship and legal status and a new visa for caregivers.

“It does seem to be part of trying to figure out what went wrong in 2024 within the Democratic Party,” said Daniel Gomez, another NMSU government professor.

Immigration was one of the top issues voters cited as their reason for breaking away from the Democratic Party and more broadly as the issue that predicted their vote, Gomez said. And while Democratic-led legislation has little chance of passing the GOP-controlled House, drafting such a plan lays down a policy line upon which moderate Dems can campaign in 2026 midterm elections — hopefully appealing to some of those 2024 lost voters.

Vasquez, who won reelection in New Mexico’s most competitive congressional district last year, is working group chair for the new plan. He represents border communities in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District and comes from a mixed status family.

“I think we have to acknowledge that the frustration from the American people on immigration reform is real. And that goes for both Democrats and Republicans,” Vasquez said.

The plan emphasizes the need to combat cartels responsible for drug and human trafficking, Vasquez said, something for which he advocated with legislation in the previous congressional session. It also has new provisions for detention center oversight.

“Right now, we’re seeing this very draconian mass deportation policy that doesn’t really get to the root of the issues of what the American people want to see, and that is a fair and a legal and a humane immigration system,” Vasquez said.

The plan is as much about the economy as immigration reform, he said, and improving the country’s economy is an area where Vasquez believes Republicans and Democrats can be brought together.

Gomez would not have been surprised to see a similar economic framework proposed by Republican members of Congress in the early 2000s, an indication that public discourse on immigration policy has shifted right.

“We have relatively moderate Democrats proposing policy that would be right at home 20 years ago, in GOP politics,” Gomez said.

The plan does seem to align with the moderate views on immigration that many Americans hold, according to Gomez, but moderate voters don’t always win elections.

“You can craft a policy that’s perfectly in alignment with the moderate position, but if your average moderate voter isn’t paying attention — is instead just parroting party politics, it’s not going to matter too much,” Gomez said.