06 APR 2022
Hub Highlights: GOP Political Stunts Threaten the Security of National Guards and Immigrant Students as the GOP Seeks to Force Democrats to Return to Trump’s Cruel Policies
WASHINGTON, DC - While the majority of Americans grow concerned and angry over the news of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade this summer, Republicans remain laser focused on immigration and the border. NRSC head, Senator Rick Scott, told Punchbowl News that “abortion may be an issue, but inflation, crime and the continuing problems at the U.S.-Mexico border will be top of mind for voters.” The Republican Party’s anti-immigrant rhetoric has materialized into threats and actual consequences to groups and communities as they attempt to force Democrats to return to the former administration’s cruel policies, such as dismantling America’s asylum system through the Lankford-Sinema bill.
Lankford-Sinema bill and any other amendments on Title 42 will upend America’s asylum system. Yesterday, Washington Post’s Nick Miroff reported how a top DHS official testified that revoking Title 42 will lead to fewer border crossings. The end of the Trump-era policy would, in fact, allow border officials to carry out legal consequences for repeat border crossers. “Title 42 has had a really interesting effect on migration, in that, because of the number of repeat border crossers we see, it has actually inflated our numbers at the border,” stated Blas Nuñez-Neto, acting assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at DHS.
So why would some Democrats push to keep Title 42 policy through a bill or amendments that would ultimately destroy America’s asylum system? This is bigger than Title 42; it’s about blocking those persecuted from seeking asylum for years to come. The Democratic policies appear to be a response to the GOP’s political play. However, the response fails to counter Republicans’ efforts to return to the Trump-Stephen Miller anti-immigrant agenda, which the American electorate resoundingly rejected in 2018 and 2020. Battleground voters support people’s ability to seek asylum at the border – blocking this right would be not just a stain in Democrats’ legacy, but would be a big political loser. Would they rather stand with the GOP and the recent rhetoric of the border patrol union boss that manifests the “replacement theory” and other dog whistles to attack immigrants and people of color, or will Democrats stand with the values the majority of Americans support?
Texas Governor Greg Abbot shortchanges the National Guard with border ploy. In a revelatory piece by the Houston Chronicle, Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) has shortchanged members of the National Guard. Gov. Abbott recently deployed soldiers to the border in a feckless attempt to raise his national profile and cause chaos, but because President Biden did not make this order, soldiers and their families stand to only receive a fraction of the health and death benefits that would otherwise be available to them.
Because the National Guard wasn’t enough, Gov. Abbott threatens to defund education to undermine parents and students, including immigrant families. On Wednesday, Gov. Abbott said he might “seek to relitigate the 1982 Supreme Court decision that found Texas and other states were required to provide free education to all children, including undocumented immigrants.” Using the pending decision over Roe v. Wade as a gateway, the governor plans to double down his attacks against immigrant families to elevate both state and national profile as he seeks reelection. The White House aptly responded, “We’re talking about, just to restate that, denying public education to kids, including immigrants to this country. I mean, that is not a mainstream point of view.”
Florida Governor DeSantis continues his assault against immigrant families by collecting their hospital data. According to a new report by POLITICO, Florida Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Simone Marstiller sent a letter to Florida Hospital Association President and CEO Mary Mayhew, informing her that the state has begun a campaign to collect hospitals’ data on the financial impact of treating undocumented immigrants, which was part of an executive order signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The supposed “crack down” ramps up DeSantis’s political ploy to weaponize immigration against children and families in his 2022 bid and eventual presidential bid in 2024.
Good policy, great politics:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this week an automatic extension of work authorization for many expiring or expired Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). USCIS is currently dealing with an unprecedented backlog, and determined that a 540-day (up from 180-days) extension period is the only way to “avoid gaps in employment for noncitizens with pending EAD renewal applications and to help stabilize the continuity of operations for U.S. employers.” The temporary increase is available to certain EAD renewal applicants, including refugees, asylees, and TPS holders, among others. The temporary increase also allows USCIS to address staffing shortages, implement additional efficiencies, and meet their own goal to complete EAD applications within a three-month cycle time by the end of FY23.
Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director of the Immigration Hub, responded, “While the unprecedented backlogs are threatening to further exacerbate those problems, the move by USCIS ensures that hundreds of thousands of workers are able to immediately continue supporting their families and communities and refugees have needed stability to continue rebuilding their lives while their applications are pending. We welcome this move, but urge USCIS to push forward by addressing personnel and processing issues to address the huge backlog that continues to put millions of asylum seekers, families and workers at risk.”
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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.