Joe Biden sparked a wave of progressive backlash this month after rolling out a new set of immigration policies that hew uncomfortably close to those of his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump. The policies, which appear to be part of a coordinated pivot to the center, put the Biden administration—already in the throes of a classified document headache—under significantly more strain ahead of his 2024 presidential bid.
Few aspects of Biden’s new immigration regime stung more among progressives than its expansion of Title 42—a health statute that the Trump administration heavily leaned on in the early months of the pandemic to mass-expel migrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border. Biden, for his part, plans on using Title 42 as an executive stopgap to deport up to 30,000 migrants who do not pursue legal pathways to citizenship, even when the rule has been widely debunked by infectious disease experts and condemned by immigration advocates as racist.
“Expanding Title 42 won’t solve anything,” Representative Greg Casar, a 33-year-old freshman Democrat from Texas, told me, noting that he has personally witnessed brutal living conditions at the migrant camps in El Paso. “The only things that we know will solve these challenges are humanitarian aid to countries that have suffered economic disasters and supporting democracy and peace throughout the Western Hemisphere.”
Casar—who, as a member of both the Progressive and Hispanic caucuses, has met with Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to discuss the new rules—noted that the administration’s “orderly process to seek asylum is a good thing.” However, he argued, the conditions are still too restrictive: Under Biden’s plan, a total of 30,000 eligible asylum-seekers from Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Cuba can legally enter the US every month and remain for two years in a temporary period of parole. To meet the eligibility requirements, migrants must have a sponsor in the US, apply for the status on a smartphone app prior to arrival, complete a background check, and enter through a legal port of entry. Migrants who have attempted an illegal border crossing after January 5, 2023, will be automatically expelled to Mexico or deported back to their country of origin, which, as Human Rights First notes, essentially repackages Trump’s asylum ban.
“Expanded parole programs can’t displace and undermine existing asylum laws,” said Casar, who added that the administration needs to offer additional means for asylum-seekers to enter the US instead of reverting to “harsher enforcement” measures that it has attached to the plan.
Casar is hardly the only progressive who has frustrations. Democratic representative Maxwell Frost, a 26-year-old newcomer from Florida, described Title 42’s expansion as a major disappointment and urged the administration to “rethink” it. According to Frost, Biden’s plan could have two major negative consequences: deterring migrants from seeking asylum when they would otherwise be eligible and more family separations. “A lot of these countries lack the infrastructure to ensure that the most vulnerable folks are going to be able to take advantage of this program,” he told me, referencing the plan’s requirement that migrants have access to a smartphone and the means to fly to the US. Meanwhile, Representative Pramila Jayapal, who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also had a bone to pick, calling Biden’s immigration rollout “unacceptable.”
“Immigrants and their families are not a political football, and seeking asylum is a legal right,” Jayapal wrote in a joint statement with Representative Jesús “Chuy” García, chair of the CPC Immigration Task Force. “We strongly urge the Biden administration to reconsider this proposal, and work in consultation with members of Congress and immigration organizations to find solutions that live up to our American values.”
Biden is not only getting pressure on the issue from Congress, but also New York mayor Eric Adams, who recently traveled to El Paso to visit the border, and has called for quicker work permits for asylum-seekers and more federal resources for cities dealing with the surge. “Every attempt to deal with immigration on a national level through legislation has been sabotaged, mostly by right-wing opposition, and cities are bearing the brunt of this failure,” he argued. Adams went on to say there was “no more room” for migrants in New York City, and even floated housing new arrivals in cruise ships—a proposal that has been panned by advocates. There’s been broader support for Adams’s other request: more federal funding to address the influx of people coming to New York.
Setting aside what’s actually in Biden’s immigration agenda, Casar and Frost also noted what’s glaringly absent: changes to US foreign policy, which began fueling the immigration crisis well before Biden took office. In a speech on immigration last year, the president did make vague mentions of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and autocratic regimes “in our region”—but failed to acknowledge the role that US-backed coups, proxy wars, and sanctions have played in destabilizing the countries that so many migrants have embarked on dangerous journeys to flee. “We haven’t learned our lesson,” warned Casar, “if we participate in destabilizing a country, then those challenges don’t just stay a world away. The worst parts of US foreign policy, those that are imperialistic, don’t stay in other parts of the world.”
Vanessa Cárdenas, the executive director of the immigrant advocacy organization America’s Voice, echoed a similar sentiment, saying that she hopes Washington will learn from its past mistakes and address the primary drivers of mass migration. “Under Trump, we cut aid to Central America and diverted a lot of funds to a border wall that we know is ineffective,” Cárdenas told me. “What the United States needs to do now is make the right investments for these countries to stabilize themselves.”
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