Biden's new immigration policy evokes praise, condemnation

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, US (AA) - President Joe Biden's new immigration policy to allow up to 360,000 Latin American migrants into the US legally every year is getting mixed reviews from advocacy groups.

Biden unveiled his new plan on Jan. 5, which is a blanket policy that turns away Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who cross the US-Mexico border illegally.

Under the new measure, 30,000 migrants from those countries will be able to enter the country legally every month through a work authorization program that requires a US-based sponsor. Eligible migrants who are approved can legally live and work in the US for two years.

"We welcome this new policy because it’s a great first step," said Lydia Guzman, the National Immigration chairperson for the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

"Given the proper legal opportunity, immigrants can strengthen our economy, increase consumer confidence, bring us out of a recession, help us address the supply chain shortage, and immigrants and their contributions make our nation great."

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Guzman said LULAC is pushing to collaborate with the Biden administration "to help craft meaningful solutions" to the new policy.

"We support the president’s proposed plan because it will allow migrants to apply from their home state," continued Guzman.

"We ask that the administration work with us so we can come up with a meaningful plan that makes it easier to qualify and easier to apply, because not everybody has access to technology or has a sponsor family in the US."

However, migrants from those countries who do not follow the proper procedures and continue to illegally enter the US through Mexico will be dealt harsher penalties, including immediate deportation under Title 42, which was implemented under former President Donald Trump. More than two million migrants have been deported under Title 42 since 2020.

Under the new policy, deportees would also be given a five-year ban from re-entering the country, which is being slammed by some advocacy groups.

“The Biden administration should be taking steps to restore asylum law at ports of entry, not doubling down on cruel and counterproductive policies from the Trump playbook,” said Eleanor Acer, senior director for refugee protection at Human Rights First, in a statement.

“Every day that these policies are in place, people seeking refuge will be turned away to suffer horrific abuses,” added Acer.

“This subversion of human rights and refugee law is a stain on the record of President Biden and his administration that will inflict indelible harm on human lives, human rights, and the refugee protection system globally.”

The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) also condemned the White House’s announcement on the new immigration plan.

“In practice, the Biden-Harris administration’s proposed measures resurrect the worst of the previous administration’s immigration policies and eviscerate the established process and practice of seeking asylum. The new measures provide a false promise of access to humanitarian relief and are tone deaf to the realities experienced by immigrants in urgent need of refuge," the Texas-based advocacy group said in a statement.

"Under the myriad life or death circumstances that drive individuals and families to request asylum, it is preposterous to expect that they can book a flight and download a mobile app to make an advanced reservation for protection. The reality is that these measures perpetuate and expand the punitive approach to immigration enforcement that elected officials have increasingly relied upon in recent years to destroy the legal and human right to asylum," the statement continued.

Contrary to the mixed reviews, LULAC said the Biden administration has been working constantly to address immigration issues while taking into account the humanitarian crisis that has left hundreds of thousands either stranded at the US-Mexico border or deported back to their home countries.

"Sadly, because of politics, Republicans have blocked comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures that President Biden proposed on his first day in office, and they have also opposed the funds needed for border security," said Guzman.

"Title 42 should stop being used as a tool to deport. Title 42 is a public health measure that was never intended to be used to control immigration. Deportations occurred prior to that, but with given due process, one that was eliminated by Title 42. We hope that soon immigrants detained at the border can all be given due process like the system was before."

Illegal immigration into the US is a decades-old problem that is in full focus for both America and the world to see. LULAC said it is important to set aside politics and policy and instead concentrate on the humanitarian crisis at hand which affects actual human beings.

"The migrants fleeing their countries are fleeing for real threats to their lives, to their livelihoods," said Guzman.

"Migration is human and has been a man-kind pattern since the existence of records. Unfortunately, recent restrictive policies have made it difficult to do so legally in the same way that critics say their ancestors migrated to his country."

While some critics consider the new immigration policy to be a band-aid solution, LULAC believes that there is a way to permanently solve the crisis, but the advocacy group said it is going to take a bipartisan effort in the US Congress to make it a reality.

"The real solution is to pass a comprehensive immigration plan," said Guzman. "One that carries solutions for the border, one that addresses the root cause of migration, and one that is reflective of the values of the founders of this great nation. But that has to start with Congress’ willingness to get the job done."

"We call on Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill and finally fix this," she added.