By Maler Suresh
One of President Biden’s campaign promises was to “secure our values as a nation of immigrants.” Throughout his campaign, Biden promised to take urgent action to undo President Trump’s border policies, along with reasserting America’s commitment to asylum-seekers and refugees, modernizing America’s immigration system, and welcoming immigrants into our communities. “Under a Biden Administration,” he promised, “we will never turn our backs on who we are or that which makes us uniquely and proudly American.” However, many Americans believe that he has already broken this promise, citing the growing number of deportations, arrests, and children being held at the border.
In January, the US Border Patrol arrested more than 75,000 migrants on the southern border, which is up from around 71,000 in December. The number of unaccompanied minors has also skyrocketed, with around 7,700 unaccompanied children currently under the care of the Department of Health and Human Services. This increase has caused the HHS to allow facilities in which children are held before sponsor families are found for them to open back up to pre-Covid-19 levels.This move brought swift criticism from progressives and activists who feel the administration can process minors more quickly, so they don’t have to stay in these large detention-like centers.”Those enormous facilities at the border are not suited for children.” said Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the ACLU. On the other hand, Kimi Jackson, director of the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project, fears the growing numbers are being misinterpreted. She argues the increase is essentially a whiplash effect resulting from the Trump-era policy known as Title 42, through which individuals encountered illegally crossing the US-Mexico border can be swiftly expelled from the United States because of public health order put in place during the pandemic. The Biden administration has said it will not subject unaccompanied children to this policy, which Jackson argues is the reason for more minors coming into custody.
The Biden Administration did attempt to implement a 100-day moratorium (a pause) on certain deportations of immigrants already in the US, however, Trump-appointed federal judge Drew Tipton indefinitely banned this moratorium, saying that there was not sufficient justification for the move given the additional stress is would put on the state of Texas. Regardless of the judge’s decision, many are still criticizing the rate at which deportations are occurring, saying that just because President Biden cannot suspend deportations all together, that doesn’t mean deportations and arrests should continue at the high rates that are currently being reported. In response to this, many experts are citing the aforementioned Title 42 policy, which has led to migrants who have been instantly deported trying to cross the border multiple times, The US Border Patrol estimates that between March 20, 2020, and February 4, 2021, 38% of all encounters were people who had been arrested more than once for crossing.
Politicians on the other side of the aisle blame President Biden’s unraveling of Trump’s border policies for the increased number of border crossings. The Oversight and Reform Republicans, led by ranking member Rep. James R. Comer of Kentucky, wrote, “The Committee must hear from Biden Administration officials about their plans to mitigate this crisis, since it is a direct result of President Biden’s unraveling of the prior administration’s strict, deterrent-focused border policies.” Others, however, blame the influx of people crossing the border on the pandemic, and it’s devastating economic effects on immigrant’s home countries, rather than President Biden’s more open agenda. In Kimi Jackson’s view, “I think that it’s got more to do with what’s happening in the home countries than what’s happening here. If somebody is trying to kill you, you’re gonna leave, no matter what.”
The Biden Administration’s response seems to be a request for patience. Administration officials have urged migrants not to come to the US, asserting that “It takes time to rebuild the system from scratch.” In response to those calling the situation a “crisis,” Alejandro Mayorkas, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary said, “This is a challenge that the border communities, the non-governmental organizations, the people who care for individuals seeking humanitarian relief understand it is an imperative. Everyone understands what occurred before us, what we need to do now, and we are getting it done.” They will begin processing migrants, previously forced to stay in Mexico under Trump-era policies, this month.
