The promise and pitfalls of Joe Biden’s immigration agenda
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“The 360” shows you diverse perspectives on the day’s top stories and debates.
What’s happening
In many ways, immigration was the central issue of the Trump presidency. Hardline anti-immigrant rhetoric was key to his 2016 campaign. Once in office, he made aggressive — and deeply controversial — policy changes to limit both legal and illegal immigration.
President-elect Joe Biden has put forward a wide-ranging agenda to reverse most of Trump’s immigration policies, which he called a “moral failing and a national sham.” Biden has promised to renew and expand protections for “Dreamers,” end family separation, reform the asylum system, drastically increase the number of refugees the U.S. accepts, stop construction of the border wall, suspend all deportations for more than three months, revoke the so-called Muslim ban, and send a comprehensive immigration reform bill to Congress within his first 100 days.
Biden has named Alejandro Mayorkas to lead the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that handles visa requests, border security and deportations, among other tasks. Mayorkas, who was born in Cuba, would be the first immigrant and first Latino to serve as secretary of homeland security. “Our immigration system is badly broken — and we all know it,” Mayorkas said at a bipartisan immigration summit. “The cost of that broken system is incalculably high.”
Why there’s debate
Biden will have ample opportunity to immediately reverse large portions of U.S. immigration policy that was established over the past four years, experts say. Trump signed more than 400 immigration-related executive orders as a way to enact his plans without Congress. Biden can undo many of those orders on his first day in office if he chooses to. Beyond the details of any individual policy, the simple fact that Biden’s administration will not have an immigration agenda based on “cruelty” represents an enormous step forward, advocates say.
While some policies can be reversed with a stroke of a pen, Biden faces an extraordinary task in untangling the Trump administration’s sprawling changes to the U.S. immigration system. Limited resources and massive application backlogs will make establishing new asylum and refugee plans a logistical nightmare, experts say. Biden will also face formidable opposition from Republicans in Congress, who may retain a narrow Senate majority that could block his plans for comprehensive immigration reform.
While they support many of his proposals, some pro-immigrant advocates are skeptical that Biden will make immigration reform a priority. Others say that going back to pre-Trump immigration policies isn’t enough. The actions of President Obama, who was dubbed the “deporter-in-chief” by activists, must also be undone, they argue.
Perspectives
Opportunities
Biden has the opportunity to enact major immigration reform
“Biden’s platform was probably as pro‐immigrant as any winning candidate since Abraham Lincoln. … With public opinion on immigration even further on his side than the presidential vote count, he has absolutely no reason to back down now.” — David J. Bier, Cato Institute
The humanity of immigrants will be central to U.S. immigration policies
“President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s administration will face enormous challenges. At times, it will fail to meet them. At times, we will gnash our teeth, dispute the president’s priorities, question his judgment. But we have this to look forward to: He won’t be mean.” — Linda Greenhouse, New York Times
Many of Trump’s actions can be undone immediately
“Because immigration is an area that affords the executive a great deal of discretion, Biden can do many things on his own to undo the heinous legacy of President Trump and his senior adviser on this issue.” — Greg Sargent, Washington Post
Mayorkas is the right person to lead immigration reform
“He brings strong support not just from the immigrant community, but from the law enforcement community. He seems to be the right person at the right time.” — UnidosUS president Janet Murguia to Politico
Some reforms will come easily, others will take a tremendous amount of work
“Some of Trump’s actions can be undone relatively easily, legal scholars and former judges and justice officials say. Others require laborious rule-making or slow-moving litigation. For Biden allies hoping to make a fast start, choosing priorities is daunting.” — Julia Preston, The Guardian
Hurdles
Biden may have to wait to repeal some of Trump’s policies
“You don't want a surge to happen before you're ready to handle it. They're going to have to rely on one of the policies they hate the most and that they disagree with philosophically, so that they can get to a long-term fix.” — Migration Policy Institute president Andrew Steele to CNN
Republicans will stand in the way of reform efforts
“Reconstruction of the immigration system for a nation whose origin story is all about immigration will be a difficult process. Among the barriers: Republicans who won’t support legislation and Republican leaders who know how to go to court.” — Dianne Solis and Alfredo Corchado, Dallas Morning News
Substantial immigration reform won’t happen
“There won’t be much else happening on immigration, and Biden will blame his failure to produce anything more on a GOP-controlled Senate led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Meanwhile, deportations will continue at roughly the same pace that they’re happening now. … And a mass granting of legal status — which the right-wing derides as ‘amnesty’ — will never be mentioned again.” — Ruben Navarrette Jr., USA Today
Returning to Obama-era policies isn’t enough
“For Biden to offer activists and voters a return to the Obama era of immigration enforcement is more than simply an abdication of his responsibilities to the people he is meant to serve. It's an insult to the voters that delivered him to the White House.” — Eoin Higgins, Business Insider
Biden will make positive progress, but it will be limited
“The Trump Administration made immigration its signature issue. What we’ll see from a Biden Administration within the first 100 days are those things that can be undone with the stroke of a pen. … [Immigration] advocates need to be clear-eyed that a Biden Administration does not automatically bring about comprehensive immigration reform.” — Political scientist Tom Wong to Time
Changing the culture of immigration enforcement agencies may be impossible
“The Trump administration ... has encouraged rule-breaking, and Homeland Security employees took full advantage of the lack of oversight and standards of conduct. The result is an agency that has repeatedly violated people’s rights in the name of immigration enforcement and then lies about it in court. It will be difficult for the incoming political appointees to reestablish rule of law, but they must try.” — Nicole Hallett, Los Angeles Times
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