8 DEC 2023

Immigration Hub Expresses Outrage At “Trumpian” Immigration Policies Under Consideration in Budget Talks

WASHINGTON – The White House, as reported today by Reuters, is signaling their willingness to make “significant concessions” on U.S. immigration policy in order to secure foreign aid for Ukraine in a supplemental funding package. Among the concessions would be a heightened standard for asylum screenings, a transit ban denying asylum to migrants who pass through another country en route to the U.S., and the expansion of a cruel fast track deportation process known as "expedited removal." The policies, if enacted, would reinstate Trump-era policies and put millions of immigrants settled throughout the U.S. at risk of deportation.

In response, the following is a statement by Kerri Talbot, Executive Director of the Immigration Hub:

“We are outraged by Senate Republicans’ insistence on recycling Trump-era proposals over and over again in the Senate war funding negotiations with no movement toward a workable compromise. Despite the Republicans’ bad faith, the White House continues to push for an immigration deal as part of ongoing budget talks.

“The proposals being discussed would: 1) make it nearly impossible for those fleeing persecution to even apply for asylum in America; 2) make it much harder for those who do apply for asylum to be given a full and fair chance to make their case; and 3) make it far easier to round up and deport undocumented immigrants settled in communities from throughout the nation with no protections for long-term residents. Taken together, these measures would make a mockery of the administration’s stated commitment to fair, orderly and humane policies for immigrants and refugees, and revive some of the most radical policies implemented during Trump’s four-year war on immigrants.

“Unsurprisingly, Republicans are demanding many more concessions. In line with their public declarations that they will accept nothing short of H.R. 2–the extreme anti-immigrant message bill approved earlier this year by a Republican majority in the House of Representatives–they have made it clear: it’s all or nothing.

“The White House seems to believe that Republicans are negotiating in good faith and that some sort of 50-50 bipartisan compromise is possible. Take it from those of us who have witnessed the GOP’s approach to immigration compromises for nearly two decades. Republicans are not interested in compromise, they are interested in capitulation.

“Instead of throwing refugees and immigrants under the bus and playing a political game on Republican turf, Democrats would be wiser to reset the debate altogether. They should call out Republicans for their obvious bad faith, insist on the huge amount of border security funding they have already proposed, and revive the question of whether Republicans are prepared to stand with Democrats to confront Putin’s aggression and stand up for a democratic nation bravely defending its sovereignty–or not. Otherwise, they will continue to be stuck in a box where the GOP refuses to negotiate seriously.”

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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.