Immigration: More Things Change, More They Stay the Same

A small fence separates densely populated Tijuana, Mexico, right, from the United States in the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Gordon Hyde, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Meanwhile, down south, things on the US-Mexico border are not noticeably different in the early days of the Biden Administration.

Thousands of asylum-seekers waiting at America’s doorstep face similar predicaments as a result of a network of policies the Trump administration implemented to deter would-be migrants, whom it accused of gaming the country’s humanitarian programs to gain easy entry into the U.S.

President Biden decried these measures as “inhumane” and vowed to end them during the campaign, accusing the Trump administration of forcing asylum applicants to live “in squalor.” After winning the election, his advisers said unwinding the many policies would take time, largely due to the pandemic.

During Mr. Biden’s first day in office, his administration stopped placing asylum-seekers in the so-called “Remain-in Mexico” program. He is also set to formally end the policy and other asylum limits this week as part of an executive order to retool how U.S. border officials will process migrants going forward.

But the new administration continues to use the Trump-era CDC order to quickly expel migrants — including families with children — without allowing them to request U.S. refuge, according to court documents and interviews with attorneys. The government has also not said whether it will allow the estimated 20,000 migrants in Mexico with pending asylum applications to continue their cases inside the U.S.

Mr. Biden has yet to publicly order a review of the expulsions order, despite a pledge made by his campaign. The CDC deferred requests for comment to the White House, which did not offer any. U.S. diplomats have instead been warning would-be migrants in Central America that the expulsions will continue indefinitely.

“Under the currently operational CDC order, certain individuals encountered at the border, including those encountered while attempting to enter the United States between ports of entry, are subject to expulsion during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Matt Leas said in a statement to CBS News on Sunday.

The Biden administration’s continuation of Trump-era border policies, even if short-lived, has left thousands of asylum-seekers stranded in dangerous Mexican towns or facing swift expulsion to the countries they fled. Many are hopeful that their fortunes will change under a new U.S. administration — but it’s unclear when and if that may happen.

President Biden spoke with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador last week and the readout sheet from the White House was heavy on immigration policy. The president did issue an EO regarding DACA but those are folks already in the country, and have been for some time. To be fair to the president, immigration issues are further complicated right now with the Covid crisis, and having to issue orders restricting travel on just about everyone outside the country that is deemed high risk isn’t going to speed up the process for those at the southern border.

But the core issue of immigration policy in America remains: With congress doing next to nothing about it other than posing and kicking the can down the road the country is locked into a cycle of Executive Orders which change president to president, and usually spend more time tied up in court than being implemented. With the Covid relief package stalled, looming impeachment, and plenty of other issues at hand it is hard to see how the most divided congress of recent memory is going to do anything remotely comprehensive regarding immigration, migrant workers, and border security. Which makes it hard not just for the President, but also for the cooperation that is vital from Mexico to deal with the issue as a partner, and on down the line to the central American countries and others many of those folks are coming from.

So while it’s probably too early to hang “more of the same” on the Biden Administration just yet, chances are that is where all this is heading. More EOs, more court battles, more of congress not doing the hard work of governing, more of the same.