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On Immigration, Democrats & Public United Around Popular Solutions

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Meanwhile, Trump and Miller, with GOP Acquiescence, Are Burning Down the System on Their Way Out the Door

Is immigration a winner for Trump and a loser for Biden? Many politicos seem to think so. We beg to differ.

The American people are quite clear where they stand on immigration reform, and Biden and the Democratic party stand with them. The cornerstone of the Biden approach is his commitment to introduce legislation in the early days of his administration to create a line to get into for 11 million undocumented immigrants settled in America. This is a proposal that enjoys broad and deep support from Americans. 

The new policy recommendations released this week by the Biden-Sanders unity task force on immigration is the latest evidence that Democrats are united and ready to undo the cruelty and damage wrought by Trump and Stephen Miller — aided by the sheepish acquiescence of Republican members of Congress — with practical, commonsense and achievable reforms. 

In contrast, the Trump administration has defined Republicans as the party of white people in red states who hate urban areas, people of color and immigrants. Sure, that mobilizes about a third of the country. It also mobilizes the multiracial majority in opposition to Trump’s racism and xenophobia. 

In fact, perhaps seeing their standing in the polls, Trump and Stephen Miller seem intent to burn it all down on the way out the door. As The New Yorker’s Jonathan Blitzer puts it, “Trump is in a kind of free fall. And what we’re seeing is Miller and his cabal trying to force through as much as they can before the music stops.” 

Here’s is just a recent summary of the xenophobic policy changes forced on the nation by Trump and his enablers, all of which have the goal of kicking out and keeping out immigrants, refugees, asylum-seekers, and foreigners:

  • Trying to again end DACA: It’s been three weeks since the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration on DACA, but instead of complying with the decision, the Trump administration is instead choosing to try and end DACA once again (see here for more). 
  • Re-starting family separations: The Trump administration is gearing up to restart family separations – a morally depraved policy choice that doubles as a toxic political choice for Republicans up and down the ballot (see here for more). 
  • Keeping out foreign students: The ICE plan this week to strip international student visas and deport those who don’t attend class in person is a cruel, counterproductive, and cynical announcement that would harm foreign students and Americans (see here for more). 
  • Dismantling USCIS: Because of Trump’s policy choices and restrictions over the past several years, we are less than a month from the impending furloughs facing two-thirds of USCIS workers and the larger damaging implications on the country as a whole (see here for more)
  • Knowingly exporting COVID-19 to 11 countries: A new joint investigation by The Marshall Project and the New York Times highlights that 11 countries have confirmed that individuals deported to these 11 countries of origin via more than 200 international flights since March were infected with COVID-19 before being deported (see here for more).
  • Destroying asylum: The Trump administration’s new proposal restricting asylum from countries with widespread communicable disease is just the latest in an ongoing array of policy announcements that virtually destroys access to the asylum process and uses the pandemic to justify sweeping nativist policy goals (see here for more).
  • Ending TPS: The Trump administration also is threatening to end TPS for hundreds of thousands of individuals deeply embedded in communities across the country (see here for recent coverage of a press conference call spotlighting TPS holders in Minnesota and featuring Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)).
  • Obsessing over border wall progress – the perfect encapsulation of Trump: The border wall remains the perfect encapsulation of Trump and his presidency: narcissistic; ineffective; corrupt; offensive and unpopular. The wall also embodies Trump’s incredibly misplaced priorities: during a pandemic, he remains obsessed with the symbolism of the border wall (see here for more).