House Democrats are treading carefully on immigration as they attempt to show they can lead on the divisive issue heading into the 2020 elections.

President Donald Trump, who won election in 2016 on a campaign to crack down on immigration and what he often refers to as “open borders,” is planning to repeat the strategy heading into 2020. In recent weeks, he’s launched near daily attacks on Democrats for their refusal to change immigration laws — an accusation that, as with many things Trump says, is not entirely true.

House Democrats don’t want to let Trump bait them into an immigration fight while they’re focused on delivering on the economic agenda they believe propelled them into the majority. But they also don’t want to ignore the humanitarian crisis at the border where an increasing number of migrants, many asylum seekers from Central America, have been trying to enter the United States.

In interviews over the past several weeks about what their caucus is doing to respond to the influx of migrants, most House Democrats have pointed to two things: money they’ve appropriated to help with humanitarian needs at the border, and oversight they’re conducting to ensure the Trump administration follows the law in processing and detaining immigrants.

Democratic leaders chimed in at their annual retreat last week with renewed calls for a comprehensive immigration overhaul. That proposal is both inevitable to some and inconceivable to others, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, expressing optimism about bridging that gap.