Immigration in the News 4/5/2021
Harris appointed as border crisis liaison, border asylum decisions by DHS, bye bye 10052
Commentary
It was very interesting to watch the media reaction to Biden’s pronouncement that Kamala Harris will serve a central role in dealing with the political and diplomatic aspects of the burgeoning border crisis. There was an unmistakable undercurrent of “Oh no, this might damage her political career!” which says something about how immigration is handled in the U.S. political discourse. The consensus seems to be it’s all risk with very little opportunity for political gain. One imagines a few expletives being thrown around in Harris’ PR team when the decision was announced. It speaks well of Biden and Harris, however, that they are willing to put a name and some political capital on the line here rather than just kicking it down to the agency people as Trump tended to do.
The expiration of proclamation 10052 was a bit of a sleeper story this week, as all stories having to do with immigration nuts and bolts tend to be. It’s a little early to predict how fast the employment-based visa apparatus will spin back up, but if I was an aspiring H1B holder I wouldn’t be holding my breath. Department of State has yet to exhibit any real leadership or guidance on how a return to normalcy will work and in their defense the worsening pandemic situation in many sending countries will provide ample justification for a “cautious” approach even absent any official proclamations like 10052. That being said, there is an article below which highlights some of the grumbling from Silicon Valley on this slow process, one imagines they were hoping for more gumption from Biden based on the support they provided in the prior election.
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Big Topics this Week:
Harris takes the reins on immigration
Biden and the border
Undocumented Immigrants
Department of Homeland Security/Department of State
Refugee and Asylum Policy
One Man’s Quest to Crack the Modern Anti-Immigration Movement—by Unsealing Its Architect’s Papers
Tanton’s framework has set the tone for the immigration debate for decades, casting immigration as a cost and a threat. FAIR and CIS representatives are constant fixtures on Fox News, and their reports and opinions are cited and published as examples of balanced reporting, almost always without any reference to the organizations’ extremist roots. They have elevated false notions that have been widely taken up by conservatives about terrorists crossing the border and migrants spreading diseases. Recent polls show that Republicans are increasingly supportive of harsher immigration views, even if most of the country is leaning toward more welcoming policies.
Interesting deep-dive here on the background of some of the more well-known anti-immigration organizations.
Harris takes the reins on immigration
Harris in difficult starring role on border
“Taking on immigration as a niche issue is filled with both opportunity and risk for the vice president,” said Democratic strategist Joel Payne. “This is especially true for someone with her public profile, which is relatively new to a huge swath of the country."
5 immediate migration management steps for Kamala Harris
And here again, the level of depravity in northern Central America provides an opportunity. One that Harris, a former prosecutor, should find too compelling to pass up. Honduras’ President Juan Orlando Hernandez has been repeatedly identified by U.S. federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in the successful drug prosecutions of his brother . It seems past time to publicly indict Hernandez or at a bare minimum publicly sanction him under existing authorities.
With new immigration role, Harris gets a politically perilous assignment
Harris’s new assignment has come with a steep learning curve. Officials at the National Security Council and the State Department said they have been briefing her in the Situation Room on Mexico and regional issues. They have presented daily memos to her and held lengthy meetings, including one session last week that went 90 minutes, according to Juan Gonzalez, the NSC’s senior director for the Western Hemisphere.
Touched on this above, but some of the details in these articles bring out my cynical side. A “90 minute meeting” to understand the complexities of the border crisis? Talk of indictments for corrupt Central American strongmen? There is a figurative mine-field here and it’s a little odd that we are putting a neophyte in charge of it. Then again, we did get Pence for the pandemic so I guess it’s on brand for the American political class.
Biden and the border
Poll: Most Independents, Many Democrats Blame Joe Biden for Border Rush
Also, just 37 percent of 2,500 likely voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey for the week ending March 25, 2021. “Fifty-seven percent (57%) of voters believe the nation is headed down the wrong track, up [by] three points from a week ago,” Rasmussen reported.
Biden is undoing Trump’s immigration record, but more slowly than tech would like
The fact that tech companies aren’t getting everything they want on immigration policy may be a result of how busy the Biden administration is as it initially focuses on other priorities, including vaccinating Americans against Covid-19, boosting the near-term economy and responding to a surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
But it also demonstrates that tech executives may have some convincing to do in Washington, despite their longstanding ties to prominent Democratic politicians.
How Democrats Became Stuck On Immigration
Democrats remain at odds over how best to move forward. Biden’s approach has so far been to roll back what Trump did, but he is ultimately going to have to pick a side within his party or work toward some sort of compromise. That won’t be easy, though, especially when it comes to handling the current issue at the border. For starters, he’d likely need Republican support to get anything immigration-related passed (budget reconciliation might not be an option, given parliamentarian rules, unless immigration measures are tacked onto another bill) and the GOP doesn’t look likely to cooperate with Democrats.
Manchin after border visit: 'Past time to do immigration reform'
"We've got a human crisis that I'm seeing here ... so if that means shutting everything down for 90 days of how we have people come into our country, sending that message that we're not going to be taking people into this country until we get our ability to make sure we're able to do it and do it right, is that going to put the pressure?" Manchin asked.
"Something has to be done and it has to be expedited. ... This problem is not going away. This problem will not cure itself, I can assure you, and they're coming in droves," he said.
Manchin also backed beefed up border security, more immigration judges and allowing for immigrants to apply for asylum back in their home countries rather than making an often dangerous journey to the United States.
Manchin’s comments are very important as he is likely to be one of the key votes on any bill that comes forth. Sounds like he is for the basic center-left mix of pathway to citizenship/border enforcement that has constituted the consensus in past bills.
Undocumented Immigrants
Honduran boy, 5, endures monthlong separation from family after crossing U.S. border
Joshua, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, is one of thousands of children and teenagers who have arrived at the U.S. southern border without a parent or legal guardian since January. He was one of more than 11,000 minorshoused by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, or ORR, an office within the Department of Health and Human Services, which Congress has charged with the care and placement of unaccompanied migrant minors.
Montana bans sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants
The legislation allows the state’s attorney general to pursue civil action against jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal laws – though the measure is largely symbolic as the state does not currently have any sanctuary cities.
Supporters of the bill claim sanctuary cities nationwide have led to increased criminal activity and the legislation will serve as a preemptive measure to ensure such actions do not arise in Montana.
Opponents of anti-sanctuary bills believe the measures lead to distrust amongst minority communities and law enforcement.
Also known as "dreamers," this group of immigrants has champions among the business class, like Cisco's (CSCO) Chuck Robbins.
“When they're told to go home, they are home. This is the only place they've ever known, and we have many of them who work for us,” he told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview. Last month, Robbins penned an op-ed for USA Today on why Congress should give “Dreamers” the “legal status and certainty they deserve.”
DHS/DOS
The Border Patrol is the Crisis
In my twenty-five years of studying immigration, policies and our borders, I have seen the differences in how four different presidents approach and handle those who illegally enter our country through the southern border. In terms of policy, presidents Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama were not that different. All three built walls, increased the budget of the Border Patrol, poured resources into militarizing our southern border and increasingly limited the number of those who would be admitted into the country.
Jenn Budd is an interesting person with an interesting perspective. I don’t agree with everything she says or writes, but she is definitely worth a look.
DHS watchdog finds widespread mistreatment of immigrants at ICE facility
A screenshot of the surveillance footage from April 13 shows several dozen detainees sitting or standing outside their holding cells and inside the common eating area as part of a peaceful protest. Another screenshot from later that day shows at least a dozen facility employees, many equipped with riot shields, aiming handheld pepper spray devices at a smaller group of detainees laying on the floor. The image captures one staffer spraying an immigrant who appears to be trying to stand up.
Deportations and Arrests of Immigrants in the U.S. Illegally Fall Sharply Under Biden
ICE’s arrests fell by about two-thirds in March compared with the monthly tallies toward the end of the Trump administration, when arrests had already slowed amid the continuing pandemic, the data show. Deportations fell by nearly 50%. And ICE’s population of immigrants in detention—which peaked above 56,000 in 2019—fell to 14,000 in March.
Biden expected to allow Trump’s guest-worker visa pause to lapse
President Biden is expected to allow a Trump-era pause on guest-worker visas lapse Wednesday, a move that critics say could jeopardize American jobs.
Proclamation 10052, which was signed by then-President Donald Trump in June 2020, suspended guest worker programs — including new H-1B tech worker visas and H-2B seasonal worker visas — was characterized as an effort to preserve jobs for workers already in the US.
Refugee/Asylum Policy
Biden Administration Considers Overhaul Of Asylum System At Southern Border
Currently, asylum officers for border cases are in charge of making credible fear decisions, but then refer the cases to immigration courts.
However, Meissner points out that asylum officers are already doing fuller reviews, including granting asylum for tens of thousands of people who already are in the United States.
"Asylum officers do exactly this work for cases that arise in other parts of the country, except at the southern border, because of this way that the statutes were written that didn't anticipate cases across the southern border," she said.
Massive, massive change here. I don’t think people have fully thought this through. If we take the responsibility for adjudicating border asylum claims away from the courts and put it in the hands of asylum officers, it may provide a short-term benefit, but it will also open the process up for political manipulation via changes in DHS policies and directives. I’m not necessarily arguing against it, but stakeholders should consider very carefully if they would want this power in the hands of a future Republican-led DHS.
Life as a refugee in San Diego was challenging enough. Then the pandemic hit
“These are folks who have fled war, who have been persecuted, who are living with severe trauma, a lot of which comes from U.S. imperialism that created the situation in which they basically needed to flee for their lives,” Yusufi said. “These are the folks that the United States selected as the folks they want to resettle here. I want folks to understand that when they come here, it’s not roses. They’re struggling, they’re struggling a lot. We need to do more.”
Another great article from Kate Morrissey.
One Signature From Joe Biden Could Help Thousands of Refugees
Should Biden raise the refugee cap and sign the presidential determination tomorrow, it would swiftly alter the prospects for thousands of refugees, though the 62,500 cap would still be mostly an aspiration, as resettlement infrastructure may take months to be rebuilt. Nevertheless, the resettlement community wants a presidential determination as soon as possible. Congress has appropriated enough funds to resettlement agencies to begin to meet a higher admissions goal in fiscal year 2021 through existing capacity, Owen said. The administration is expected to raise the cap the following year to 125,000, and resettlement agencies will need additional resources.