President Biden may resume detaining illegal immigrant families, a major policy reversal as his administration braces for the end of President Trump's Title 42 border policy. 

The left is outraged over Biden's plans, which they say betray his promises to turn the page on Trump's hardline immigration agenda.

As a presidential candidate, Biden condemned Trump's policies as cruel and inhumane, and Biden wasted no time unwinding them upon coming into office.

“Children should be released from ICE detention with their parents immediately. This is pretty simple, and I can’t believe I have to say it: Families belong together," Biden tweeted at the time.

Major Biden reversal

The left has long criticized Biden for waffling on his immigration promises, particularly with his expedient reversals on Title 42, a public health measure introduced at the height of the COVID pandemic that many on the left consider a relic of the Trump era.

Lately, the Biden administration has been looking to Trump for inspiration as it scrambles to prepare for an influx of immigrants in May, when the band-aid of Title 42 is set to end for good.

"Locking immigrant families and children into cages along the border is dangerous, ineffective, and wrong,” Democrat Greg Casar (Tx.) said.

The Biden administration has downplayed the reports that it is looking to revive family detention, however.

"No decisions have been made as we prepare for the Title 42 Public Health Order to lift," a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said.

Ripping off Trump?

Biden has overseen a historic surge at the border that he has long been content to ignore, but recently he has appeared sensitive to the political risks of inaction as he prepares to seek re-election.

The administration has also weighed blocking asylum seekers who do not first seek refuge in other countries while in transit to the U.S., another echo of Trump.

It's part of a pattern of moves by Biden aimed at defusing criticism of some of his weakest issues, like crime and immigration.

Biden took Democrats by surprise last week when he said he would not veto a Republican resolution overturning a Washington D.C. law that eased penalties for carjackers.

It looks like Biden is learning that Trump's "cruel" ideas had a purpose. Will he ever give Trump credit?