Try as he might, President Biden is not winning the support of conservatives in Congress with his policies limiting asylum access and increasing summary deportations of migrants, immigration attorney Blaine Bookey said.
“Biden just can’t out-Trump Trump,” said Bookey, legal director with the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, during a May 22 virtual press briefing hosted by the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign.
Blaine Bookey
“As we have seen time and time again, the president’s political adversaries basically accuse him of promoting open borders, even when he embraces the most cruel and draconian Trump-era policies.”
Given that reality, Bookey urged the administration to drop the brutality and “adopt humane and pragmatic policies that actually address the humanitarian and operational challenges at the border.”
#WelcomeWithDignity organized the briefing to condemn “horrendous” legislative and presidential attempts to continue whittling away the nation’s lawful asylum system.
“These efforts go against the ideals that represent the best of our country and would have devastating and potentially even deadly impacts for people seeking safety,” said Maribel Hernandez Rivera, director of policy and government affairs for border and immigration at the American Civil Liberties Union.
Maribel Hernandez Rivera
Among the more troubling developments is the recent introduction of Senate Bill 4361, a Democratic move to overhaul U.S. immigration and border policies in part by codifying limits on asylum access, said Robyn Barnard, senior director of refugee advocacy at Human Rights First.
Also known as the Border Act of 2024, the border enforcement bill is a revival of previously bipartisan legislation once part of a military aid package for Ukraine and other allies. Senate Republicans turned on the plan in February at the direction of former President Donald Trump.
The Senate was expected to vote on the Biden-supported measure May 23, but House Republicans have vowed it never will see the light of day in that chamber.
Barnard and other experts at the briefing expressed feelings of disappointment and betrayal that Democrats want to codify Trump-era expulsion practices that set quota limits on asylum applications, deny judicial review of many asylum cases, limit appeals of denials and give asylum officers more personal discretion in rejecting applications during initial screenings.
Robyn Barnard
Many of those practices already are in use after being implemented by the Trump administration and later extended by President Biden. In neither case have those approaches reduced the surge of migrants seeking safety in the U.S., Barnard said.
“The bill is being billed as a vehicle to fix what is broken at our border, and in fact we know from recent history and data that these provisions will only exacerbate, and not help address, any of the chaos or confusion we have at the southern border.”
Granting more power to asylum officers during first encounters with migrants also has proved unsuccessful, Barnard added. “We have seen how these same policies have a disproportionate negative impact on people who are Black, brown skinned or indigenous, and other groups like those who identify as LGBTQ, women as well as children.”
Bookey took the Biden administration to task for using its rule-making authority to continue the harsh immigration practices of his predecessor.
Most recently, Biden announced a rule enabling asylum officers to deny protection during the credible-fear stage of the screening process when they suspect any past criminal history — a task once addressed in later hearings.
“If an officer so much as suspects that a statutory bar to asylum might apply, the rule would then demand the asylum seeker provide evidence to the contrary right then and there. And if they can’t do that, the officer could have them summarily deported.”
More often than not, she added, deportation will result because migrants in that stage of the process are still reeling from the trauma and exhaustion of their journeys to the U.S. “They almost never have a chance to get legal help, let alone prepare any sort of evidence to support their claims,” she explained.
Biden has outraged immigration advocates since early in his presidency. Given congressional inaction, he has required migrants to remain in Mexico, often for months at a time, while waiting asylum appointments, and last year he introduced the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways Rule to limit the number of migrants eligible to apply for protection in the U.S.
Biden has outraged immigration advocates since early in his presidency.
More presidential actions on immigration are anticipated, Bookey said. “We are expecting the administration to issue an executive order that would impose even more sweeping changes to prevent people from accessing the asylum process. Relying on the same legal authority as the (Trump) Muslim ban, this new executive order reportedly in the works would permit the government to shut down asylum processing between the ports of entry when a certain number of daily crossings is exceeded.”
Immigration advocates are prepared to challenge Biden’s latest orders in court but hope he will change course before that is necessary, Bookey said. “These proposed measures are short sighted. They are counterproductive to the administration’s stated aims of fairness, efficiency and orderliness at the border. They are only creating more chaos and insecurity.”
Rivera urged senators to reject the “extremely anti-immigrant bill” and to help restore the nation’s asylum system to the humanitarian process it was designed to be under national and international law.
“Throughout history, people have come to our country in search of safety and a better life, and in turn, they have become integral to the fabric of our nation. Immigrants are our neighbors, family members, friends and coworkers, and contribute to our communities and our societies. We must not turn our backs on people seeking safety.”
Separately, the National Immigration Forum issued a statement May 22 welcoming the Senate’s border security bill for the attention it brings to comprehensive immigration reforms, but also calling for a bipartisan approach to negotiations.
“Legislators from both sides of the aisle must engage in an honest dialogue that leads to practical changes in our immigration system,” Forum President Jennie Murray said. “This discussion should include long-term solutions for Dreamers and the workforce, as well as for the border. The vote on this bill should not be the end of the debate.”