Scoop: Democrats urged to ditch immigration message after Biden failures

• Democrats were told that former President Biden's failure to control the border drove voters to support Trump's vision for immigration, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
• The lawmakers were encouraged to ditch their longtime message of "comprehensive immigration reform."
• Senate Democrats were briefed by Andrea Flores, a top staffer with the bipartisan FWD.us political organization, at their policy retreat in Virginia.

Zoom in: The unsparing briefing criticized the Biden administration for not articulating a vision for immigration reform in the belief that talking about it would only help Republicans.

• Biden's border strategy further alienated Latino voters who'd waited for decades for a path to legalization, the briefing argued, while new arrivals quickly received work permits.
• Senators were urged to focus on reducing border crossings, as well as increasing legal pathways to citizenship, reforming the asylum system and expanding access to humanitarian aid outside of the U.S.
• Flores left the Biden White House after its first year and became a public critic of its handling of the border.

Between the lines: Support for Trump's immigration policies has dropped dramatically, the lawmakers were told.

• Voters are weary of the White House's disregard for due process in its mass deportation program, lawmakers were told.
• The briefing pointed to Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, who was erroneously deported by the Trump administration and is still being held in El Salvador.
• Lawmakers were presented with polling that shows a majority of voters think Ábrego García should be returned to the U.S.