Immigration in the News 4/26/2021
Dubya mounts an immigration reform push, DHS cancels fines, land borders closed through May
Comments
This week George W. Bush did an extended segment on the Today show, including a guest speaker slot at a naturalization ceremony in Rockefeller Plaza, to promote his new book and immigration reform generally. Leaving aside my criticisms of his presidency, this is a laudable effort by a major political figure on the “right” to throw his weight behind the Biden administration’s burgeoning immigration reform effort and will probably carry some weight with conservatives given Bush’s continued popularity (which has recovered somewhat since he left office). Bill Clinton is also tied to some of this messaging, and it would be nice to see Obama get on board given that he and Bush seem to have a cordial relationship.
DHS abandoning the fines program for those ordered to leave the United States is probably not of much consequence in the long run but it is on brand with their knee-jerk rollback of all Trump-era changes to immigration enforcement. In reality this was a punitive measure that probably would cost more money than it would make to enforce, and certainly preys on the most vulnerable in our society, so I shed no tears for its passing. That being said, given the messaging that the Biden folks have sent so far and its outcome in terms of border numbers, is this really another log they want to throw on the fire right now?
The border restrictions being extended again isn’t really big news per se, but in concert with the continued Title 42 expulsions it does kind of send a message that we aren’t too interested in a return to normality yet. With large numbers of Americans vaccinated and likely large-scale exports of vaccines to Canada and Mexico in coming months hopefully we will see border travel return to some semblance of normality, as many border families have been severely impacted by the inability to travel and visit family throughout this crisis.
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Big Topics this Week:
Ex-Presidents weigh in on immigration debate
Biden and the border
Undocumented Immigrants
Department of Homeland Security/Department of State
Refugee and Asylum Policy
Border Lawmakers See Different Answers to Immigration Quandary
“Our border is too porous right now. Let’s shut our border down, let’s do it right,” said Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell, standing in front of a pile of steel posts left unused after President Biden on his first day in office halted the construction of former GOP President Donald Trump’s signature border wall.
The New Mexico lawmaker said Trump-era immigration restrictions need to be put back in place before she would be willing to talk about expediting the backlog of asylum cases and smoothing the path to legal status for some immigrants that many Democrats want. Earlier this month, she brought eight Republican colleagues to her district and nearby El Paso, Texas, to show them what she says is Mr. Biden’s border crisis.
It's strange that border lawmakers aren’t a bigger voice in this debate. As we noted in an earlier edition, the delegation the Democrats sent to the border a few weeks ago featured mostly non-border representatives, with a few Californians sprinkled in.
Ex-Presidents on Immigration
George W. Bush calls country "divided" under Trump and pushes immigration reform
More than two decades ago, Mr. Bush ran as a compassionate conservative who wanted to pass comprehensive immigration reform. His failure to do so, he said, is one of his greatest regrets and part of the reason he's rejoining the debate.
It was Ken Mehlman, his former campaign manager, who urged him about four years ago to speak out about immigration reform, Mr. Bush said.
"I said, 'I don't want to put my voice in the immigration debate. I'm a quiet guy. I've done my deal. I'm not going to criticize my successors.' He said, 'Why don't you paint the portraits of immigrants?' And I said, 'Wow, that's a good idea' — And started. And I'm now involved in the immigration discussion," Mr. Bush said.
Can two former presidents unravel the immigration knot?
The oldest of Beltway magic tricks could in fact work here: A bipartisan commission, especially if it was led by Bush and Bill Clinton and included members to their left and right, could break the logjam, particularly if it worked under the admonition that whatever it produced had to be no longer than a couple of Homestead Acts. (The first of those, in 1862, ran less than 2,000 words and somehow settled vast stretches of the United States.) Laws, like political columns, benefit from clarity — and tight word counts.
The help and respect historically accorded to new arrivals is one reason so many people still aspire and wait to become Americans. So how is it that in a country more generous to new arrivals than any other, immigration policy is the source of so much rancor and ill will? The short answer is that the issue has been exploited in ways that do little credit to either party. And no proposal on immigration will have credibility without confidence that our laws are carried out consistently and in good faith.
As a person of a certain age I can safely say that I am no fan of George Bush, but this is a laudable effort and one supported by his policy record while in office. It’s interesting to look at this and see a little bit of why he was so appealing and charismatic to many during his presidency, as well.
Biden and the border
‘The wheels fell off’: How Biden’s misgivings on border surge upended plan on refugees
President Biden overruled his top foreign policy and national security aides, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, when he kept in place the Trump administration’s record low cap on the number of refugees admitted to the United States, according to three people familiar with the matter, a decision that was reversed after a public outcry.
Biden harbored concerns about what the sharp increase in migrants at the southern border meant for the government’s capacity to handle an influx of refugees from elsewhere, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private deliberations. In the end, the president’s own misgivings fueled the decision more than anything else, the people said.
Harris: Immigration efforts designed to 'give people some sense of hope'
Harris also said the hardest part of the work is rebuilding relations with the nations of Central America after the Trump administration.
“We’re making progress, but it’s not going to evidence itself overnight,” she said. “Part of the problem is that under the previous administration, they pulled out, essentially, a lot of what had been the continuum of work. It essentially came to a standstill. We have to rebuild it, and I’ve made it very clear to our team that this has to be a function of a priority that is an American priority, and not just a function of whoever is just sitting in this chair.”
This seems a little disingenuous to say the least, as it was the Biden administration that unilaterally pulled out of the “Asylum Cooperative Agreements” signed by El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Whatever you think of the substance of these agreements and what they entailed, they were bilateral. No evidence has emerged (that I am aware of) that shows that the other countries involved were in any way dissatisfied with these agreements.
Majority disapproves of Biden's handling of immigration at border: poll
In the Washington Post/ABC News poll, 53 percent of respondents said they disapprove at least somewhat of the job Biden has done managing the rising number of immigrants and asylum-seekers arriving at the border, while 37 percent approved. Nearly half-- 44 percent -- strongly disapproved.
Sixty-four percent of Democrats approve of Biden's handling of the immigration situation at the border, compared to 10 percent of Republicans.
Undocumented Immigrants
US Companies Are Helping Mexican Cartels Get Rich Kidnapping Migrants
VICE World News reviewed 40 ransom payments made through money transfers in eight different kidnapping cases from 2014 through January of this year. Virtually all of the money flowed through U.S. companies, mostly through Western Union and MoneyGram but also Walmart and lesser-known companies like Ria. By our rough estimate, criminal organizations in Mexico have made around $800 million on migrant kidnappings alone over the past decade, and money-transfer companies received a cut on nearly every transaction through fees and exchange rates. American corporations are profiting from kidnappings.
Human Smugglers Bypass Border Patrol, Bedeviling Sheriffs And Ranchers In South Texas
In its 130 years of existence, the Jones Ranch has weathered hurricanes and droughts, fever ticks and screwworms, and lots of migrant traffic. But he says he's never seen so much human smuggling in the region. Jones estimates they've spent more than $30,000 just since January fixing dozens of breaks in their fences.
Undocumented migrants from Mexico and Central America trekking on foot and packed into vehicles are heading north through South Texas in ever greater numbers. Some are dying along the way in the harsh, arid terrain.
Meanwhile, frustrated Border Patrol agents say they're so busy processing asylum seekers that they can't apprehend others who cross illegally.
Cartels Offer Cash To U.S. Teens For Smuggling Illegal Immigrants Past Border Checkpoints
For these adult migrants, getting across the U.S.-Mexico border is only the first step. They then have to get past Border Patrol checkpoints situated along most major highways heading north from the border region. The only way to get past these checkpoints is to drive through them or sneak through often remote ranchland—a journey that in hotter months can be deadly, and regularly results in lost migrants dying from dehydration and exposure.
That’s where the TikTok ads come in: cartel-associated smugglers need U.S. drivers to get through these checkpoints easily, and cash payments are an easy way to persuade teens and young people to take the gigs.
Human trafficking is a terrible crime. Even if we believe that our current border policies make it a necessity for some, it doesn’t justify our tolerance of it. People die or experience terrible trauma when they enter the U.S. via this route. We can pursue humane border policies while cracking down harshly on the networks and cartels that are facilitating these activities.
DOS/DHS
DHS scraps fines for illegal immigrants who fail to leave, moves to cancel existing debts
ICE has had the ability to impose fines for more than 20 years but only began enforcing them in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump. The administration started sending out fines of hundreds of dollars a day for those who had failed to leave the country. The policy made headlines with instances where illegal immigrants were slapped with fines up to $500,000.
But the Biden administration, which has shown little interest in encouraging most illegal immigrants to leave the country, stopped issuing the fines on Inauguration Day and the move Friday formalizes what DHS describes as a "change in direction."
DHS scraps fines for illegal immigrants who fail to leave, moves to cancel existing debts
The guidance is temporary, lasting three months until the Department of Homeland Security can issue further guidance. Officials said the guidance does not explicitly prevent anyone from being arrested or deported. However, field officers seeking to arrest someone outside of those three categories would need approval from their chain of command.
Since President Biden took office, the number of ICE arrests has plummeted, declining by 65% in March compared with at the end of the Trump administration.
US borders with Canada, Mexico to remain closed to nonessential travel through May
DHS and its Canadian and Mexican counterparts enacted the initial closure on March 21, 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread throughout North America. It has been extended on a month-to-month basis since then.
In the intervening year, Canada has tightened its border security, requiring anyone entering by plane or land to be tested in advance for COVID-19 and banning cruise ships from its waters until February 2022. In addition, anyone traveling to Canada from the U.S. must prove that they are doing so for essential reasons and must quarantine upon arrival.
The State Department Can Act To Reduce Visa Delays
The State Department’s appointment wait time website page shows nearly all the major countries for U.S. visas are processing emergency appointments only. (See Table 1 for appointment wait times for temporary/nonimmigrant visas as of April 16, 2021.) That includes Beijing, Bogota, Frankfurt, London and Sao Paolo. “To get an expedited interview, you have to first make a regular appointment, and then you need to explain what are the factors, such as dire business need or family issues,” said Dagmar Butte of Parker, Butte & Lane in an interview. “So far, I am seeing that mere inconvenience or business interruption without demonstrable and serious financial consequences won’t do it.”
Biden Increases Seasonal-Worker Visas by 22,000
Though the business community pushed hard for the additional visas, it isn’t clear how much of a difference they will make this year. Most U.S. consulates abroad aren’t processing all visa types, and in many cases are giving priority to permanent immigrants over temporary laborers, the State Department has said.
“Many employers are thankful that the federal government will issue 22,000 additional H-2B visas this fiscal year, but more needs to be done to address these seasonal-workforce issues moving forward,” said Jon Baselice, executive director of immigration policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who added that many businesses will still be unable to hire the number of employees they need to fully operate.
U.S. to set aside 6,000 guest worker visas for Central Americans
The extra H-2B visas would be in addition to the annual allotment of 66,000 visas for the fiscal year, a tally that was exhausted in February. The visas are used for landscaping, food processing and hotel work, among other seasonal jobs.
If the 6,000 visas are not used by companies seeking to hire people from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, they will go back to the general visa pool sometime before Sept. 30, a DHS official and a second person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The visa carve-out for the so-called Northern Triangle countries “demonstrates DHS’s commitment” to creating more legal avenues for migration from the region, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
Seeing some recognition on the visa front that things are not working currently. The H2B program may be small in relative terms but like international adoptions there are a lot of influential and connected people involved in it behind the scenes. Given current realities, and expansion of H2 type visa programs is probably the best way to stem Northern Triangle economic immigration in the short-term.
Refugee and Asylum Policy
The Supremes Wrestle with TPS: Can That Status Create a Green Card?
The question before the court is one of statutory interpretation. Can a person granted TPS be regarded as having been legally admitted to the U.S., even if they initially crossed the border illegally?
My sense is that if the answer is yes, and if there is an otherwise valid petition for migration, say, filed by a citizen child of the TPS parents, then green card status could be obtained in that particular case. I do not see it as a question as to whether all in TPS status should be covered by an instant amnesty. The Third Circuit decision on the matter in Sanchez et al v Mayorkas is not explicit on this point. It is case 19-1311 in the Pacer file, decided on July 22, 2020, by a three-judge panel. The case number at the Supreme Court is 20-315.
Why the White House wanted to avoid the refugee issue
The flip-flop was just the latest example of an otherwise buttoned down administration struggling to find its political footing in the immigration arena. Though it has shown message discipline on Covid-19, vaccinations and the economy, the issues around immigration have repeatedly dogged the Biden world since the president took office. Hiring in key agencies dealing with immigration policy and enforcement lagged in the administration, with new officials having to quickly ramp up even as new challenges emerged. The refugee program was already beset with difficulties left behind from a Trump White House that gutted it.
Biden considers protections for climate refugees
Biden ordered the idea to be studied after a landmark ruling last year from the U.N. Human Rights Committee on a complaint Teitiota filed against New Zealand.
Teitiota argued his 2015 deportation violated his right to life. He said saltwater from rising seas destroyed land and contaminated the water supply on the island of Tarawa in Kiribati. Scientists say the impoverished string of 33 atolls with about 103,000 people is among the nations most vulnerable to climate change.
The committee said Teitiota was not in imminent danger at the time of his asylum claim, rejecting his case. But it said it may be unlawful for governments to send people back to countries where the effects of climate change expose them to life-threatening risks — from hurricanes to land degradation.
This week was a concerning one for those who view the Biden administration as technically competent outside of media narratives. Their denial of trade permissions for India to import vaccine precursors, their refugee number moves, and their capital gains tax plan all went over like lead balloons in their various constituencies. Regarding the refugee issue specifically, we have been beating the drum for a better messaging strategy for weeks. Is there no establishment Dem who wants to own this?