Immigration in the News 4/19/2021
New USCIS director, border blame game, refugee limit controversy
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It has been very interesting to watch this border conversation unfold over the last few months. While past experience gave me the broad strokes of what would likely happen, until I started writing this newsletter I didn’t pay much attention to the day-to-day developments, and in any case it has been a few years since the last administration change and the accompanying whiplash-fast change in policy. The deteriorating approval rating of Biden’s immigration strategy (and the ample collection of campaign statements both opponents and advocates have available to critique it) serves as a stark reminder of how fraught politically this immigration issue is. While running a very pro-immigration platform during the presidential campaign was apparently considered a no-brainer, it does not seem like the Biden team was fully prepared for how much of an albatross these statements would be once in office.
Ur Jaddou was on Biden’s transition team and an early insider-baseball pick for USCIS Director. I won’t let that stop me from doing a quick victory lap on calling this one last month, though:
There was a big blow-up on the refugee cap numbers this week. I won’t go through the whole saga but suffice to say that this week’s events serve as a stark reminder for immigration advocates: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”. In the face of withering criticism over their decision to maintain Trump-era refugee numbers this year, the administration backed down and is apparently considering other options. If you really care about spinning this program back up, keep the pressure on. I will point out, however, that you can’t bring in 500% more refugees in a single year without people and money, both of which are sorely lacking. It may take at least one budget cycle and round of hiring before Biden can realistically start upping those refugee admission numbers, that’s just the reality. The refugee admissions apparatus has been absolutely gutted, and it will take time to rebuild.
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Big Topics this Week:
Border blame game
Biden and the border
Undocumented Immigrants
Department of Homeland Security/Department of State
Refugee and Asylum Policy
The dramatic story of Wilton, the Nicaraguan child found crying on the US-Mexico border
In a remote farming community located more than 3,000 kilometers from the US-Mexico border, in the Nicaraguan mountains of El Rama, a 66-year-old woman named Socorro Leiva was shocked to see her own grandson crying in a video that made the television news. At that point, she did not even know that her daughter, Meylin Obregón Leiva, had left for the US with the eldest of her two children. “I was making dinner when my husband, who was sitting in front of the TV set, yelled out ‘Socorro, come quick! That’s Meylin’s son!’ And it was indeed my little boy. He was carrying a small bundle in one hand and he was asking for help,” she says, standing inside her home in an area known as El Paraíso. According to Leiva, her daughter and grandson left to escape an abusive husband.
This is the kind of reporting I wish I would see from American papers and news outlets. It’s an absolutely heart-breaking story that hits all the major elements of the immigration debate, but instead of following it we get a 30 second spot on CNN and then spin it endlessly from there.
Border blame game
Border fiasco spurs a blame game inside Biden world
But Becerra’s low-key approach has raised suspicions among some involved in the immigration effort that he is reluctant to be seen as owning the issue, lest he become the face it. GOP lawmakers have targeted Becerra over immigration issues before, highlighting his past support for extending health care to undocumented immigrants.
“This is his agency. They’ve done a particularly terrible job, and he doesn’t want to get blamed for it,” one person familiar with the situation vented.
Biden and the Blame Game at the Border
Biden faces another burden: by the time Trump left office, he had effectively ended the practice of asylum and left the most vulnerable people to their own devices. Some seventy thousand asylum seekers were forced to wait indefinitely in Mexico, under a policy called the Migrant Protection Protocols. Trump also, in the name of a dubious public-health order issued last March, turned away nearly everyone who sought asylum at the border, including some sixteen thousand children and thirty-four thousand families. That order had the perverse effect of leading people to try to cross multiple times; in the past year, there have been more than five hundred thousand expulsions. Biden planned to phase the asylum program back in gradually, partly for operational reasons and partly for political ones.
Border blame game escalates as minors crossing into the U.S. reaches record high
Democrats and their allies are pushing back on GOP assertions that President Joe Biden is to blame for the latest wave of children crossing the border, but the latest numbers are muddling their message.
The U.S. government picked up nearly 19,000 children traveling alone across the Mexican border in March, authorities said Thursday. That's the largest monthly number ever recorded.
Those numbers have triggered hasty visits by lawmakers to the border.
Including some older articles here, but I think it illustrates an important fact: who we blame for this mess is of key interest to a lot of people in Washington. Unfortunately for Biden, it is difficult to blame this particular problem on Trump as he had effectively shut down immigration over the prior year. So the shit rolls down hill, as one says. Becerra, a rising star in the Democratic Party, is obviously not keen to fall on his sword for this mess, and I’m betting neither is Kamala Harris. Where does the buck stop?
Biden and the border
The president has yet to reunite a single family separated under the Trump administration.
The Biden team says that is in large part due to the lack of process used by the Trump administration as it separated the families.
That forced the new team to manually dig through thousands of government files, trying to match separated parents and children.
How Biden is Pushing Migrants to Jump the Border
“This is a closed borders crisis, not an open borders crisis,” says Alex Nowrasteh, director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. “When people don’t have the option to enter lawfully, they’re going to eventually try to come unlawfully. And the fact that the president has laid out no real timeline for getting American immigration laws back to normal is just going to increase the uncertainty and illegality of actions along the border.”
For many migrants stuck waiting in Mexico, the status quo is bleak. One Honduran woman traveling with two teenagers told me, “I can’t feed my children, and it’s so dangerous in this city.” Tijuana has one of the highest murder rates of any city in the hemisphere, and vulnerable, poor migrants are often the targets of predatory kidnapping, theft and rape. “I just need [the U.S.] to tell me when we can cross,” she pleaded.
Biden promised to stop seizing border wall land. His DOJ is still doing it.
Biden said in an interview a few months before the November election that he would not only not build “another foot of wall” but he would end those eminent domain cases, too.
"End. Stop. Done. Over. Not going to do it. Withdraw the lawsuits. We're out. We're not going to confiscate the land," Biden told NPR in August.
But Biden’s administration has not withdrawn from Trump court cases to seize land for the wall. It has even conceded that the wall could continue to be built or modified.
Echoing statements from last week, the “Wall” is not unpopular among moderate Democrats. Pollsters and administration people know this.
Donald Trump's Ambassador to Mexico Offers Surprising Immigration Solutions
But right now, the incentives are really to come illegally because if you have two employers, two competitors, and one is hiring illegals, and the other one is hiring legally, well, there's a huge competitive disadvantage. You have to jump through all these bureaucratic hoops to get the legal workers.
And I think a lot of employers say, "Well, what the heck, why should I bother to comply with the law if my competitor down the road here is hiring illegals and getting away with it?" So, I just find it somewhat baffling that we are kind of looking to other countries to solve our migration problems for us. We're not actually doing the most basic measures we could do here to address what is enticing these people to come to our country.
Some good points here. Knee jerk rejection of anything with Trump stench on it is not wholly positive. Matt Pottinger is another Trump-era official who deserves to be listened to.
George W. Bush on painting a new vision of immigrants
On May 15, 2006, President Bush gave an Oval Office address on immigration, in which he said:
"We are a nation of laws, and we must enforce our laws. We are also a nation of immigrants, and we must uphold that tradition, which has strengthened our country in so many ways. These are not contradictory goals – America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time."
"It's been 15 years," said O'Donnell.
"I know it."
"Still nothing's been done."
"No, a lot of executive orders, but all that means is that Congress isn't doing its job," Mr. Bush said.
"Is it one of the biggest disappointments of your presidency, not being – "
"Yes, it really is," Mr. Bush said. "I campaigned on immigration reform. I made it abundantly clear to voters this is something I intended to do."
I would hope the Iraq War is also on that list of “disappointments”.
Democrats send letter to Biden requesting immigration bill in second part of infrastructure package
The Citizenship for Essential Workers Act would provide a pathway to citizenship for more than 5 million undocumented essential workers with an immediate adjustment of status to legal permanent resident if it's passed.
In the legislation, any undocumented immigrant who works in child care, health care, agriculture, construction, emergency response, transportation, food, domestic work and other essential jobs would be able to apply for citizenship.
"The upcoming legislative package on jobs and infrastructure is the best opportunity to recognize and reward the sacrifices and labor of essential workers," the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
"Essential workers also paid a terrible toll this past year," the lawmakers added.
Undocumented Immigrants
Kristi Noem’s posturing on ‘illegal’ immigration spotlights a common misrepresentation
Republicans have been eager to use the increase in migrants apprehended at the border with Mexico to pressure the Biden administration for several weeks. Noem’s statement goes a bit further, claiming that she will object to any attempts by the federal government to relocate undocumented migrants in her state. Even beyond the immediate irony of the White governor of a state in which 1 in 11 residents are Native American proclaiming who is American enough to reside there, there are obvious flaws in the line Noem is drawing.
For one, those who enter the country illegally are almost never able to gain citizenship, as immigration attorney David Leopold explained to The Washington Post in 2016. In other words, undocumented immigrants won’t be able to call Noem when they become American because they probably won’t be able to.
Why The U.S. Government Is Dropping Off Migrants In Rural Arizona Towns
All of this is the immediate aftermath of a controversial practice known as "rural releases" that the U.S. government began doing in the borderlands last month.
The Border Patrol, which did not respond to NPR's requests for an on the record interview, says the pandemic is limiting how many people they can safely hold at nearby facilities. Officials say funding and jurisdiction issues are also mostly preventing them from transporting migrants to cities. So in practice, that means migrants who do qualify for potential asylum and can prove they have sponsors in the U.S. are just being dropped in rural Arizona towns like Ajo that are close to overflowing Border Patrol facilities.
Florida Man Who Posed as Immigration Lawyer Gets 20-Year Sentence
In all, Mr. Reyes filed more than 225 fraudulent applications, “intending to cause victim loss of more than $1 million,” the statement said. The court deferred consideration of victim restitution to a later date.
“Posing as an immigration attorney, Reyes targeted hundreds of vulnerable people in the Tampa community with his immigration scam,” Michael Borgen, the Tampa district director for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a statement after Mr. Reyes was sentenced. He said his agency was “committed to finding and stopping those who want to cheat the immigration system, and preserving it for those who qualify for immigration benefits.”
“Florida Man” strikes again.
We Need a High Wall With a Big Gate on the Southern Border
DOS/DHS
According to the indictment, Valenzuela encountered the individual, identified only as “J.L.,” on August 16, 2019, while Valenzuela was on duty at the Calexico West Port of Entry. During the course of the inspection, Valenzuela allegedly deprived the individual of the Constitutional right not to be subjected to unreasonable force. The indictment also alleges that Valenzuela’s actions resulted in bodily injury to the person seeking admission into the U.S.
Huge Trump-era and pandemic immigrant visa backlog poses challenge for Biden
Efforts to get back to pre-pandemic visa levels face another obstacle: Last fall, Pompeo expanded a pandemic hiring freeze on consular officers, saying that with fewer people traveling to the US, the State Department wouldn't need them. State Department officials declined CNN requests to discuss the extent of the consular shortfall; but in January, Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the department had about 1,000 fewer employees than it had at the start of the Trump administration.
Because the Bureau of Consular Affairs relies mostly on visa and passport fees to fund its operations, the State Department said that the sharp drop in fee revenue from the pandemic "will have continuing effects on our staffing and available resources for several years, which means even when post-specific conditions improve, many posts will not be able to immediately return to pre-pandemic workload levels."
In other words, the U.S. visa system is broken for the foreseeable future. Absent a massive, not at all in evidence (currently) effort to fix this boondoggle, don’t expect to be able to get any kind of visa work done overseas for many months, maybe years.
What Happened When the U.S. Government Tried to Make the Immigration System Digital
The gap that Rodriguez identifies is one that many public sector organizations struggle with as technology plays an ever-increasing role in how the world conducts business—how to oversee a technology project if you have never done so before and lack technical knowledge. Rodriguez’s suggestion that agencies establish a technology translator–type role would certainly solve this problem, and it is an idea we have brought before Congress. In practice, this would be an executive-level role whose sole purpose is to keep tabs on any large, mission-critical technical projects within an agency. This means that any agency running a vital project that involves a technical build should ensure that there is someone on staff with a technical background—this doesn’t need to be someone who can write code, but a person who has experience launching products and systems—who can think strategically about technology as it relates to policy and problem solving.
DOS is in the midst of a similar train-wreck with its “ConsularOne” next-gen platform. At least they were smart enough to go with the Salesforce Platform for parts of their GSS contract.
Refugee and Asylum Policy
News comment: Statement on U.S. emergency presidential determination on refugee admissions
While UNHCR is disappointed that the United States has not yet been able to move beyond the historically low admissions target of 15,000 for the current fiscal year, we welcome the decision announced today to broaden geographic categories for its refugee admissions. We are also encouraged by the announcement of a planned increase, to be formalized by 15 May, in the number of refugees who will be given the chance this year to begin rebuilding their lives in safety and dignity in the United States. Refugee resettlement saves lives.
At a time of record forced displacement, when global resettlement needs far surpass places available, UNHCR is grateful that the United States is taking urgently needed steps to restore and expand its refugee admissions program and to make more places available for the vulnerable refugees whose lives depend on them. We strongly support the United States in its commitment to a robust increase in refugee admissions next year and stand ready to support the work along the way to realizing this important and necessary humanitarian goal.
After backlash, Biden will increase the limit on refugee admissions
At midday on Friday, the administration had said it would limit the number of refugees allowed into the United States this year to the historically low level of 15,000 set by the Trump administration, breaking an earlier pledge to greatly increase that number and let in more than 60,000 people fleeing war and persecution.
But that announcement drew immediate criticism from Democratic leaders. In a statement, Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and the majority whip, called the administration’s admissions target “unacceptable.”
“Facing the greatest refugee crisis in our time, there is no reason to limit the number to 15,000,” Mr. Durbin said. “Say it ain’t so, President Joe.”
Just hours later, the White House put out a statement saying it expected to increase the cap next month. It did not comment when asked to specify the number.
White House announces it’s keeping Trump-era refugee caps, then backtracks amid furor
Late Friday, White House officials held a call with refugee advocates, during which deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said the cap would likely be lifted well before May 15, according to two people on the call. Finer also said that the administration would try to resettle refugees as soon as possible, rather than spreading out the admissions until Sept. 30, the people said. White House officials plan to hold another meeting with advocates next week, people with knowledge of the plans said.
The White House chose the May 15 date because Biden did not want to delay the flights of already-vetted refugees into the United States any longer, doing so by lifting Trump’s restriction on refugees from specific countries. But at the same time, Biden “wants to ensure we have a clear understanding and assessment of the capacity to process refugees seeking to enter the United States,” one White House official said.
‘Broken promise’: Biden’s backtrack on refugees still slammed by advocates
The episode marked a rare flip-flop-flip for the president, and it yielded a barrage of denunciations from key allies who’d previously heaped praise on the administration for promising to rebuild the refugee resettlement program. Faith-based organizations that had lent valuable weight to Biden’s moral case against Trump during the election, said they still felt betrayed even after the White House issued its clarifying statement.
I flew to Guatemala to investigate the human side of America's 'immigration problem'
We met Juaquina at a church in Guatemala City, on the day she managed to speak to her bedridden husband for the first time since he fell ill. The stroke has left him with slurred speech. Wiping away her tears, she tells me her biggest fear is that she will not see her husband again, and that he will die all alone in the U.S. This is not worth the years he worked to keep her and their children afloat.
And she had a message for other young Guatemalan couples who are now thinking of separating their families in pursuit of economic opportunities in the United States. “Both should travel or no one should go. If the need is so great, then both travel so that there are no family separations.”
Oliver goes on to explain the dire limbo many refugees exist in due to the president’s passivity. “More than 35,000 already [are] approved for resettlement here, but until Biden signs that determination, they are beholden to Trump’s low admissions ceiling and bullshit racist rules.” Per Oliver, the refugees’ resettlement approval exists for a certain amount of time. If they unfortunately expire, refugees must start the paperwork all over again. And, even with approval, refugees can’t seem to currently board planes to their approved resettlement city. After Oliver describes all of this, he explains the simple solution is the swift stroke of the president’s pen.
“It’s past time for him to look deep into his own, pick up a f*cking pen and do the right thing,” emphasized Oliver.
Canada-US asylum seeker agreement upheld by court
Last year, a federal court ruled the agreement violated asylum seekers’ right to life, liberty and security of the person because those who were turned back could be locked up indefinitely in immigration detention.
The refugees’ lawyers also argued that people trying to make refugee claims that might be accepted in Canada, such as those on the grounds of gender-based discrimination, risked being sent back by the US to their countries of origin.
During the administration of former US President Donald Trump, tens of thousands of asylum seekers crossed into Canada between ports of entry to skirt the STCA, which only applies to formal border crossings.
Since the advent of COVID-19, however, Canada has a policy of turning back asylum seekers trying to cross irregularly. While it does not track what happens to them, at least a dozen ended up in US immigration detention and at least one was deported.
Made some observations about the refugee issue above, but it’s worth mentioning that the tying of the refugee issue to the border issue is a gift for conservative immigration opponents and think tanks. Biden should task his immigration team and communications team with pushing back on this association more forcefully, and put forth a “walk and chew gum” type rationale for how they are going to confront the border crisis and spin up refugee admissions at the same time.