Why Biden’s Decision Dampens Hope for Immigration

After four brutal years of Trump’s zero-tolerance policy, it was difficult to find hope in immigration. The kind of hope my parents had when they immigrated to America in the 1980s.

As a young girl living in Colombia, my mother’s entire heart found hope in the American Dream. This idea – that anyone can be anything – led her through Mexico and across the southwest border into the United States when she was twenty. Hope gave her the fortitude to endure two days in immigration detention before setting roots in New Jersey.

Hope allowed her to raise her mixed-status family. She was undocumented and married my father, a lawful permanent resident. My twin brothers were green card holders. Meanwhile, my sister and I were American-born citizens.

Growing up, I witnessed her cook, clean, and perform the type of responsibilities that stick to immigrant women, like gum on the bottom of heels. She was told to go back to her country but never did. She promised to give me a better life than the one she left behind in Colombia. One where I’d have the privilege of American citizenship.

Thirty-eight years on and the America that greeted my mother is not the same. Within months of his inauguration, President Donald Trump gave life to a wave of xenophobic attitudes around America, creating laws and policies to match.

Trump began with non-citizens already living in the U.S. In 2018, a report assessed 22.1 million people living in the U.S. without proper status. Trump’s response: deport them all. Since I was working at Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the time, I witnessed a complete flip in the immigration system Obama left behind.

Obama’s immigration judges had the autonomy to decide cases as they seemed fit. Trump changed that. Judges were required to deport men, women, and children like their jobs depended on it – because they did. More than 80 experienced judges refused and resigned or retired. It was the highest turnover since 1997. Three hundred new judges replaced experienced ones. These new judges acted like soldiers willing to comply with Trump’s cut-throat agenda.

Yet, Trump didn’t just create harsh laws for those already living in the U.S. He set dangerous precedents for those arriving through international airports and the southwest land border. Removal orders (commonly called deportation orders) skyrocketed, detention space increased, and migrants were sent to wait in Mexico.

People with valid visas and permanent residents were excluded under the Muslim Ban. Versions 1.0 and 2.0 were rejected by the Supreme Court for being discriminatory, but Trump persisted. Re-writing it each time until version 3.0 finally survived.

On January 25, 2019, Trump’s DHS created the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), commonly referred to as the “Remain in Mexico” policy. His Administration used it to send everyone crossing the southwest border to Mexico despite their country of origin. Trump’s MPP program forced individuals fleeing persecution (asylum seekers) to wait in unsanitary camps plagued by violence in Mexico for their court hearings.

And then there was the plight of Central American juveniles. Children, whose ages could be counted with one hand, were required to answer immigration charges. About 4,000 were torn apart from their mothers and fathers. Countless others were corralled into chain-linked cages. Seven, whose innocence was transparent through their contagious smiles, died in immigration custody.

Perhaps Trump’s most notable legacy will be his attempt to replace the essence of Lady Liberty with a steel wall.

Since 1886, the Statue of Liberty has stood as a romantic symbol of hope and spirit. When she arrived at the New York Harbor, President Cleveland said: “We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected.”

Yet, it seemed America had forgotten. Talks about a steel wall across the southwest border were like a mirage, tricking even rational Americans into believing that America was under siege. And that the enemy – immigrants – could only be stopped with military force.

But somehow, under the Biden Administration, hope found its way. Or, so I thought.

President Biden didn’t just promise to “restore justice and humanity” to immigration. His Administration ended the Muslim ban and created a task force to reunite separated families. With such action, it was easy to hold onto his words that “[a] border wall is the physical embodiment of [Trump’s] inability to effective immigration policy.” I welcomed his presidential response on January 20, 2021, pausing border wall construction.

When the Biden Administration announced on Thursday, July 28, 2022, that the Trump-funded U.S. – Mexico border wall near Yuma, Arizona, would be completed, I was confused. How could such a symbol of immigration hatred continue to be built?

Even under Democrats, the controversy about the southwest wall continues. The Trump Administration wanted Americans to believe the wall would protect Americans from uncontrolled migration. Biden’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, wants us to think that the wall is necessary to protect migrants. According to a DHS press release, the proximity to the Morelos Dam and the swift-moving Colorado River presented safety hazards for migrants crossing into the United States.

I learned from my time as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney that we cannot place hope in a few good people to do the right thing. Non-citizens should no longer be left in the crosshairs of a political agenda. As a country of laws, non-citizens need protective legislation that binds future administrations.

Democrats must restore the hopes that immigrants and their American children placed in them with something tangible. Instead of building more wall, they could change the parameters of temporary protected status for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Temporary protected status would protect foreign nationals already in the U.S. from being returned to their home country during perilous times. The Biden Administration can also increase access to migrants seeking protection abroad.

But, I will no longer passively wait for democrats to take action. My children are twice removed from their immigrant grandparents. They will inherit a more global community, one where physical borders do not exist. I am responsible for reminding them of the hope their immigrant grandparents placed in America. I will educate my children to show humility and compassion towards others, despite the person’s place of birth. These small actions can lead to more significant policy changes.

Just as my mother promised to give me a better life than the one she had, I want to do the same for all those that come after me. What else would I use my American privilege for?

Resources

Trac Immigration; More Immigration Judges Leaving the Bench (syr.edu) More Immigration Judges Leaving the Bench (syr.edu) See Current Immigration Judges Hired by Fiscal Year, https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/617/ Secretary Nielsen memorandum entitled Policy Guidance for Implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols; *ICE-Policy-Memorandum-11088-1.pdf Biden v Texas, 597 U.S. ___ (2022). DHS: More than 3,900 children separated under Trump ‘zero tolerance’ policy (usatoday.com) Why are migrant children dying in U.S. custody? (nbcnews.com) Statue of Liberty Arrives in New York Harbor – HISTORY FACT SHEET: President Biden Outlines Steps to Reform Our Immigration System by Keeping Families Together, Addressing the Root Causes of Irregular Migration, and Streamlining the Legal Immigration System – The White House Proclamation on the Termination Of Emergency With Respect To The Southern Border Of The United States And Redirection Of Funds Diverted To Border Wall Construction  – The White House