Year of Biden's presidency: he failed to reverse Trump's immigration policy despite promises

President Joe Biden began with lofty goals to revamp America's immigration system, but as the end of the year drew near, lawsuits and strife have stalled policy changes. CNN.

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At best, the administration sees "a very mixed picture," said Jorge Lowery, policy director of the American Immigration Council. “And the worst case scenario is a continuation of what Trump wanted,” he says.

Immigration has been a politically dangerous issue for Biden, whose approval rating has fallen. In the spring, amid a surge of unaccompanied minor migrants, Biden asked Vice President Kamala Harris to address the root causes of migration, an intractable problem that has plagued previous administrations. Although Harris announced private sector investments in Central America, there was no control over the situation at the US-Mexico border.

Republicans have continued to exploit the record-setting border arrests and filed lawsuits challenging policy changes that have prevented the administration from meeting some of its commitments.

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In particular, a federal judge in Texas blocked the end of the Trump-era border policy, forcing non-Mexican migrants to remain in Mexico until their U.S. immigration court was appointed, and demanded that the administration reopen the controversial program it opposes and still seeks. put an end to.

Another Trump-era border policy, which immigrant advocates and the United Nations have called on the Biden administration to abandon, also remains in place.

The public health authority involved at the start of the coronavirus pandemic is allowing authorities to deny migrants at the US southern border, effectively barring them from applying for asylum.

When asked about the regulations known as Title 42, the Biden administration turned to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, which a White House spokesman said deemed necessary given the Delta and Omicron options.

Everyone was very disappointed with the immigration policy.

“There has been frustration with immigration policy due to a failure to implement the principles enshrined in executive orders issued earlier this year,” said one administration official.

Immigrant advocates, who anticipated significant change after four years of declining immigration under President Donald Trump, have welcomed the winding down of some Trump-era politicians, but have also increasingly expressed concern and frustration to officials about the administration's actions in many discussions.

“The Biden campaign promised to help people, and instead we returned to Trump's policies,” Karen Tumlin, an attorney and founder and director of the Justice Action Center, told reporters.

“This is not the change that millions of people were striving for when Biden was elected,” he said.

The White House defended the administration's actions and the rejection of Trump-era immigration policies.

“The President has made clear that restoring order, justice and humanity to our immigration system is a priority for this administration. Our immigration system is outdated and in dire need of reform; but this administration is committed to delivering relief to immigrants every day and bringing our immigration system into the 21st century,” a White House spokesman said in a statement.

Treatment of migrants

Tumlin, among others, is suing the administration over the treatment of Haitian migrants who have flocked to the US-Mexico border this fall.

In a December letter to Biden and Harris, dozens of immigrant protection groups called on the administration to abandon Trump-era border policies, calling them "harmful" and "illegal."

“Nearly eleven months after taking office, this administration continues to violate U.S. asylum law and evade U.S. treaty obligations by blocking and returning asylum seekers to places where their lives and safety are at risk,” the letter said.

The UN Refugee Agency has also intervened on several occasions criticizing public health policies.
The continued use of public health policies exemplifies the unique position of the Biden administration: tackling the pandemic and tackling a growing number of migrants along the US southern border, many fleeing pandemic-exacerbated conditions at home.

In the early days of Biden's presidency, officials faced record numbers of unaccompanied minors arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, leading to resource constraints and congestion at border facilities. While slightly fewer migrant children have arrived in recent months, other flows, such as from South America, pose new challenges.

“The volume and emergency have put us on the defensive rather than putting reform on a proactive agenda,” an administration official said.

Reuniting children separated during the Trump years

Despite various setbacks, the Biden administration has taken several steps to implement its immigration program, including changing enforcement guidelines to prioritize certain undocumented immigrants for arrest and deportation, ending massive workplace enforcement, ending construction of the border wall, and ending the application of controversial rules. such as Trump's rules.

In the era of regulation of government fees, it was more difficult for immigrants to obtain legal status if they used some of the public benefits.

Biden also created a task force to reunite families torn apart at the U.S.-Mexico border under the Trump administration. Last week, a task force led by the Department of Homeland Security reunited the XNUMXth family, divided under the Trump-era "zero tolerance" policy.

Still, for parents whose children were taken away - with no clue as to where they were going - it was difficult to trust the federal government, no matter who the president was. And the recent fallout from settlement negotiations has strained already fragile relations.

The reason for the lawsuits is the zero tolerance and family separation policy. For example, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class action lawsuit in 2019 seeking damages to families as a result of separation, and family lawyers filed separate claims.

After a barrage of sustained criticism from Republicans over the ongoing settlement negotiations, the Justice Department cut off talks with the Separated Families attorneys this month.
More court hearings are expected next year, including a class action claim for damages, as well as additional changes in immigration policy, such as increased opportunities for asylum.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers vowed to continue the fight to overhaul immigration rules, an effort that has dogged Congress for decades. This year, the Senate rejected multiple attempts to include immigration provisions in major spending legislation, posing a roadblock to passing changes without Republican support.

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These efforts are likely to continue to face the same dire challenges in the coming year.

“They have to win on this issue because they are under a lot of pressure from advocates and immigration in general,” a source close to the White House said, referring to immigration restructuring.
“If they don’t do anything about this issue, it will be terrible for them from a political point of view,” the source said.

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