More Reminders of Immigration Cruelty, Chaos, and Dysfunction Calls for a Broader Overhaul that Republicans Keep Blocking
Washington, DC – Ten years ago this month, the 2013 comprehensive immigration bill was introduced in the Senate by a bipartisan group of senators, eventually passing with 68 Senate votes in June 2013. Today, we are still paying the price for House Republicans’ absolute refusal to allow a vote and the GOP’s subsequent deliberate and calculated descent into even more border chaos and cruelty.
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“Every day, we see reminders of the high cost and grim tragedies that result from our outdated immigration system and the inaction of our political leaders. The GOP in particular has stood on the way of progress for decades, and their ongoing refusal to partner on real solutions and their continued preference for anti-immigrant politics and performative cruelty instead of a legislative fix has left a trail of human destruction and political division in its wake.
Our immigration dysfunction leads to chaos, tragedy, and empowers bad actors. Yet, instead of working towards an overhaul that benefits America, Republicans are threatening to make it worse – seeking to end DACA and block legislative fixes for Dreamers; supporting Donald Trump and Stephen Miller and whitewashing the horrors of family separation; and even openly calling for the bombing and invasion of Mexico.”
This week brings more reminders about our broken immigration system and Republicans’ role in promoting chaos and cruelty instead of real and sorely needed reform:
- GOP Trying to End DACA in Courts and Block Legislative Fix for Dreamers in Congress: In Law360, Alyssa Aquino writes on the latest legal filings in Republican states’ ongoing challenge to the popular and successful DACA program for Dreamers. Beyond the legal nuances, the stakes are clear: Republican states are trying to end DACA and Republicans in Congress are refusing to partner on a legislative fix to ensure Dreamers stay protected, employed, studying and succeeding in the country they call home.
- Reminders of the Horrors of Trump’s Family Separation – Including on U.S. Citizen Children: Miriam Jordan writes in the New York Times: “a significant number of U.S. citizen children were also removed from their parents under the so-called zero tolerance policy … Hundreds, and possibly as many as 1,000, children born to immigrant parents in the United States were removed from them at the border … In many cases, the U.S.-born children were placed into foster care for lengthy periods, and some have yet to be reunited with their parents.”
- Instead of Focus on Orderly and Humane Solutions at Border to Prevent Human Tragedies, GOP Wants to … Bomb Mexico? The horrific details surrounding the fire in the Juarez detention center should prompt bipartisan reckoning (read Eduardo Porter’s Bloomberg opinion column for more on this point). However, Republicans seem intent to advance even more chaos into the region, openly calling for invading and/or bombing Mexico and drug cartels. As Caleb Ecarma wrote in Vanity Fair on the subject, “…the GOP’s 2024 message on the border is coming into clearer focus.”
