This week, after years of criticism from immigration rights activists
and many progressive Democrats, President Joe Biden has ended the use of
Title 42. That’s the public health law that Donald Trump first used
during the pandemic to expel millions of asylum seekers arriving at the
U.S.-Mexico border.

Biden’s decision has drawn predictable outrage from Republicans. But
perhaps more worrisome to the president is the growing list of critics
from within the Democratic Party who are concerned that Biden’s border
policies could trigger a humanitarian crisis and perhaps an electoral
backlash. 

Rep. Henry Cuellar is one of those Democrats. And he’s this week’s guest
on Playbook Deep Dive.

Cuellar knows the issue of immigration better than most of his fellow
Democrats. He was born to immigrant farm workers in Laredo, Texas, went
to college and law school, and eventually jumped into Texas politics,
and then the U.S. Congress, where he’s served since 2005 representing
Texas’s 28th Congressional District, which stretches from San Antonio to
Laredo and includes 200 miles of the southern border.

The left does not like him. He received a lot of attention in the last
two election cycles when he was targeted by national progressives and
barely survived two primary challenges.

One reason for those challenges: immigration, where Cuellar is
well-known for being to the right of many of his Democratic colleagues.
On the other hand, he voted against the border security bill that House
Republicans put on the floor this week. Cuellar is a lonely centrist on
an issue that has become much more polarized over the last decade. 

And, as he tells Playbook co-author and Deep Dive host Ryan Lizza, he
thinks Joe Biden should join him in the middle and stop taking advice
from the left, as the president prepares for the coming aftershocks of
his Title 42 decision.

Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.
Henry Cuellar is the representative for Texas's 28th district. 
Afra Abdullah is an associate producer for POLITICO audio.
Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio. 
Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the executive producer for POLITICO audio.