Foto: Fibonacci Blue from Minnesota, USA - Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Detention Camps
The possibility that President Joe Biden will consider a policy of detaining immigrant families, breaking one of his central campaign promises to Latino voters, is causing outrage among progressives and immigration advocates. If reinstated, the measure would establish a Democrats' rigid stance for the 2024 election season on how migrants are treated at the border, confounding differences on the issue with former President Donald Trump and Republicans, reports The Hill.
Representatives of progressive groups, especially Asian-Pacific-Americans and Hispanics, said they are "deeply concerned" that the Biden administration could bring back the detention policy to try to dissuade people from migrating illegally. They argue that this approach is misguided and that detaining families and children is neither safe nor humane and does not act as a deterrent to migration.
"Locking immigrant families and children in cages along the border is dangerous, ineffective and wrong," said Progressive Representative Greg Casar (D-Texas), a newly elected Member of Congress from the state's 35th congressional district, on Tuesday. “It is dangerous and wrong to incarcerate refugee children, regardless of political party.”
Casar and other Democrats were reacting in part to a report by The New York Times that said Biden was considering bringing back elements of Trump's detention policy, the same publication notes. Progressives and a range of interest groups have argued that Biden has promised a different path for the future of the issue. They now say this is in danger of being undone.
“We can't back down,” said Casar, a Latino and first-time congressman whose campaign was supported by Justice Democrats. He suggested that Biden's possible adherence to what Republicans used during the Trump years, after the temporary Title 42 policy ends in early May, would be "giving in to anti-immigrant fear" and effectively mimicking the GOP's game.
"It's outrageous," Setareh Ghandehari, who serves as director of advocacy at the pro-immigration coalition Detention Watch Network, told The Hill.
Immigration has been an often-debated and sensitive political focus during the Trump and Biden administrations. Trump used a tough stance and rigorous rhetoric to galvanize his base against Hillary Clinton in 2016, and has maintained it throughout his time in the Oval Office. Talking about building a "wall" along the Mexican border has become his trademark. Biden said he would offer a different position, and Democrats have embraced much of what he promised. He tried to end the "Remain in Mexico" program - which is now stuck in court - and later established a probation program for immigrants.
Now, critics are concerned that Biden is going back on his promises.
"He has made several statements condemning Trump's use of family detention and family separation and has pledged to do something different and specifically to end family detention," Ghandehari said. "And what we've seen is a continual backtracking on their promises."
A recent survey indicates that public opinion remains divided on the issue. According to a survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 4 out of 10 respondents believe that the number of people seeking asylum in the country should be reduced, while only 2 out of 10 think it should be increased.
The new policy, being considered by President Joe Biden's administration, would limit which migrants could apply for asylum at the border. Although the details have not yet been revealed, the possibility of a change in asylum policy has generated controversy and criticism from Democratic lawmakers, especially in the House of Representatives.
"The administration should not even consider going back to the Trump-era policies that caused so much harm and trauma to children and families," Representative Chuy García (D-IL) said in a statement.
Representative Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), who leads the Hispanic Caucus in Congress, said last week that she is working with the Tri-Banque of Congress to craft a formal statement of opposition to the administration's new policy. Barragán and other House Democrats called the new policy "deeply troubling."
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is scheduled to meet virtually with members of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus Tuesday night to discuss border security plans. It is likely that the possible return of controversial policies will be one of the issues addressed.
“We Democrats should be the party of families and opportunity,” said Natalia Salgado, leader of the Federal Affairs division of the Working Families Party. "The president should not even consider reinstating a policy that closes doors of opportunity to migrants and refugees in inhumane ways."
