Editorials, columnists, and observers are weighing in to support the confident immigration vision President Biden has put forward through legislation and executive action.
The Washington Post editorial: Biden’s bold immigration plan would really put America first
President Biden has served notice that his ambitious immigration plan is in the first rank of his priorities. Some of his program will be immediately implementable; some may get bogged down in Congress, where many Republicans will regard it as an occasion to brandish the word ‘amnesty,’ red meat for their bases. No matter. Mr. Biden’s plan is in keeping with the United States’ best traditions. It responds to the challenge of population stagnation. It would reverse his predecessor’s extravagantly cruel policies. And it is now clear that when it comes to immigration, Mr. Biden is all in.
The Boston Globe editorial: Biden takes on a long-deferred overhaul of immigration
The reforms are long overdue, and this is a critical moment to pursue them. The pandemic has made clear that America runs on immigrant workers, many with no legal status — think of the janitors and farmworkers, or caregivers working at the front lines of our health care system. An estimated three out of four immigrants in the workforce who lack legal status are essential workers. Biden’s immigration bill would fully embrace them and recognize their contributions by offering them a path to citizenship.
Los Angeles Times editorial: Congress has to seize the moment Biden has given it to fix immigration
Biden seeks to embrace a humane and pragmatic view of immigration reform … There are, of course, no quick fixes to the broken immigration system, which rivals the tax code in its complexity .. But Congress must seize the moment.
San Francisco Chronicle editorial: Biden is right to make immigration policy a priority
President-elect Joe Biden has signaled that he will move quickly to begin to reverse President Trump’s odious approaches to immigration. Some of those actions will be easier than others, but his to-do list released over the weekend showed that he rightly has made a priority of treating people coming to the United States with policies that are both pragmatic and humane — a sharp contrast to Trump’s hostile, divisive and counterproductive agenda.
Andres Oppenheimer in Miami Herald: Biden might succeed in legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants. Here’s why.
Under the immigration bill that President Joe Biden is expected to send to Congress, known as the U.S. Citizenship Act, undocumented immigrants would be given an eight-year path to citizenship if they pass background checks and prove they have paid taxes … Biden will enjoy a big advantage over former President Obama on immigration issues, because public opinion has changed in recent years. Polls show that most Americans may be ready for more pro-immigrant policies. Perhaps it’s because Americans have grown tired of former President Trump’s and Fox News’ constant demonization of undocumented immigrants. Or maybe enough Americans have been shocked by the Trump administration’s cruelty when they saw pictures of immigrant children kept in cages or learned about the separation of babies from their migrant parents.
Edward Alden in Foreign Policy: Biden’s Bold Gamble on Immigration Is About America’s Future
The immigration fight has become a proxy for what sort of country the United States will be—a diverse, welcoming nation that still sees itself as a beacon for the world, or a narrow, insular one fearful of change. There is no easy middle ground here, no compromise that will satisfy Americans with sharply different values. But sometimes leaders need to set the direction of the country rather than holding their fingers to the wind. Biden has been clear throughout his political career—and was so again in his inaugural speech—that the United States’ strength, future prosperity, and global influence lie in its diversity and openness. After far too many years of failure, it is time to seize that future.
