- Reflects Biden rightward shift
- Bipartisan immigration bill blocked
- Critics foresee stricter asylum rules
Members of the Republican Party organised opposition to a bipartisan immigration agreement less than a day after its introduction by Senate leaders, thus preventing its passage this week.
Despite the fact that the measure was initially defeated in a vote on Wednesday, migrant rights advocates and policy experts maintain that it demonstrates President Joe Biden’s administration’s rightward shift on immigration.
They caution that the legislation, which contains some of the strictest border restrictions Congress has considered in decades, may portend further developments as immigration becomes a central issue in the 2024 elections.
“This indicates that the administration and Democrats appear to be complacent about allowing right-wing Republicans to control the narrative,” Sunil Varghese, international refugee assistance project (IRAP) policy director, told.
The bill encountered an obstacle during the preliminary procedural vote on Wednesday: Fifty senators cast “no” votes, preventing the chamber from commencing work on it.
Biden’s Compromise on Immigration
The Biden administration, for its part, framed the agreement as its best opportunity to address the record number of migrants and asylum seekers illegally traversing the southern frontier of the United States.
In addition to Biden and other prominent Democrats, the measure was hailed as a compromise that would permit foreign aid to Israel and Ukraine in exchange for immigration restrictions. They hailed the agreement as an exceptional chance to augment financial resources allocated to asylum processing and border security, both of which have historically faced resource constraints.
“Will Republicans accept a resounding ‘yes’ and seize the best opportunity in decades to secure our border—the best opportunity that Congress has seen?” Wednesday in a congressional address, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated, “This is the choice that Republicans face today.”
However, according to Varghese, the agreement demonstrates that Biden and some leaders of the Democratic Party are adopting more Republican-leaning policies in the midst of the increased political pressure of an election year. He perceives the bill as a deviation from the pledges that Biden put forth during his 2020 presidential campaign.
“I believe that the Democrats’ and Biden’s 2020 campaigns presented an independent, distinct vision of what they believed America to be and what they believed it was capable of becoming,” he further stated. “They have moved quite a distance away from that.”
“Ceded considerable ground”
The new bill indicated that “Democrats have ceded a substantial amount of ground to the Republican position,” according to American Immigration Council senior advocacy strategist Rebekah Wolf.
The individual defined this stance as the conviction “that the entirety of immigration policy is determined by what transpires at the border; and that the sole suitable approach for the border is one that endeavours to admit the fewest number of individuals possible into the United States, irrespective of their motivations.”
In contrast, Wolf stated that during the 2020 election, Democrats placed greater emphasis on a “real understanding of the humanitarian aspect.”
An annual influx of hundreds of thousands of individuals seeking asylum at the border violates the internationally recognised right to be free from persecution. As of August, there was a backlog of a minimum of 974,571 (PDF) asylum applications in the United States government that needed to be finalised.
During his 2020 campaign, Biden positioned himself as an advocate for asylum, promising to usher in a radical departure from the stringent immigration policies implemented under the administration of former President Donald Trump.
Biden vowed to “immediately cease Trump’s assault on the dignity of immigrant communities” after being nominated by his party. In lieu of this, the Democrat pledged to adopt a more humane stance, specifically towards asylum seekers.
He stated, “We are determined to regain our historic position as a safe haven for refugees and asylum seekers and our moral standing in the international community.”
Biden Reverses Trump’s Policies
After assuming office in 2021, the Biden administration initiated the process of reversing several policies that were highly contentious during the Trump administration.
An example of this was the “Remain in Mexico” policy, also referred to as the Migrant Protection Protocols, which frequently mandated asylum applicants to await case decisions in camps located south of the border. Biden additionally focused on Title 42, a public health initiative that was enacted amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and permitted border crossers to be expelled prior to submitting an asylum application.
However, as the volume of border crossings increased, the Biden administration adopted a strategy of “carrot and stick” measures: He permitted the immediate expulsion of many individuals who cross the border outside of official points of entry while expanding certain legal channels of entry.
However, according to human rights organisations, the policy undermines the United States’ legal obligation to asylum claimants.
The closure of the boundary
However, according to proponents, the bipartisan agreement Biden assisted in negotiating would have been even more stringent regarding asylum rights.
Vice President Biden told reporters on January 27 that if the current bill were to be passed, he would “immediately shut down the border and fix it quickly.” He reaffirmed this assertion in a speech on Tuesday.
Biden added, “This bill would also grant me, as president, the authority to temporarily close the border in an emergency if it becomes overburdened.” “Had the bill been signed into law today, it would be permissible to shut it down immediately while we repair it.”
Critics have examined the similarities between these statements and comparable assertions made during the Trump administration, when he attempted to halt the border through executive authority.
In 2019, Trump, for instance, threatened on social media: “I will close the border, or substantial portions of it, next week if Mexico fails to promptly halt ALL unauthorised immigration entering the United States through our southern border.”
Biden, Trump Converge on Immigration
It is anticipated that Biden and Trump will meet once more in the general election of 2024. Wolf and other authorities were taken aback by the convergence of the two adversaries on the issue of immigration.
Wolf stated, “I don’t believe anyone would have predicted six, nine, or twelve months ago that President Biden would publicly declare that he was staking his credibility on supporting a proposal that would, quote, shut down the border.”
“This extends beyond Joe Biden’s campaign stances and includes his more recent stances in court cases contesting policies of the Trump administration.”
Provisions within the new immigration measure would have permitted the expeditious expulsion of asylum seekers at the southern border, where encounters with border patrols average 4,000 per day over the course of a week, with certain exceptions. The imposition of mandatory expulsions would ensue if the weekly average number of border crossings reaches 5,000, or 8,500 in a single day.
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Additionally, the bill would have granted the Department of Homeland Security the ability to expeditiously deport undocumented individuals within the country and at the border (PDF), thereby expanding the White House’s authority to initiate expedited removals.
Additionally, the agreement would have established a more stringent criterion for assessing “credible fear” interviews, which constitute the initial phase of the asylum procedure. In such interviews, applicants must demonstrate that they are unable to return to their country of origin due to the imminent threat of persecution.
