You can listen to a recording of the call here
To wrap up a busy week in immigration, experts with three perspectives on the politics and policy choices facing the Biden administration on immigration joined a press call. They discussed recent polling that points to strong public support for solutions to vexing immigration issues; the ways in which the previous administration’s cruelty and deterrence strategies failed; a blueprint for reducing the sending pressures in Central America that generate migration; and took reporter questions on immigration, asylum and related issues.,
Dan Restrepo, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and former Obama advisor and Latin America policy expert, said, “It is time to deploy help and hope in the region. There are short-term steps — immediate disaster relief, cash-for-work programs, COVID-19 vaccines, alternatives migration pathways, and a clear break with predatory regional elites — that will help relieve pressure on the US-Mexico border, while also setting up longer-term efforts to address root causes of irregular migration for success.” See his recent op-ed here.
“Conventional wisdom on this issue is often really wrong. The idea that if you make life miserable for people seeking refuge, they’re less likely to attempt to come to the U.S. Not only is that a moral failure, but a policy, and political failure as well. President Donald Trump’s cruelty as a deterrence border policy ultimately proved to be ineffective in the long term. In fact, those policies in many instances have actually contributed to irregular migration, while also having a devastating human impact. So we are left with a binary choice: return to Trump’s failed policies, or embrace a new approach. Biden has a plan to finally take action on the root causes of migration and to fix our long broken immigration system. He should continue to follow through on it,” said Pete Boogaard of FWD.us and a former Obama DHS and NSC official. See his recent op-ed here.
Rosa Mendoza of the polling firm Global Strategies Group, said, “This research shows that while voters see the situation at the border as a serious one, there continues to be widespread support for the various citizenship proposals facing Congress. Voters strongly support President Biden’s solutions on the border, and while they see Republicans as mainly blocking Democrat’s action on immigration, they yearn for humane, safe, and smart solutions to the border, and are ready to support Democrats doing what is necessary to fix the country’s immigration system even if it means doing so without Republican support.” See a polling summary and press release about GSG polling conducted for The Immigration Hub here.
