5 JAN 2024

What Democrats Should Offer In the Face of the GOP’s Extreme Immigration Policies

Read the exclusive coverage in The Messenger.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Republicans in Congress continue to obstruct foreign aid to Ukraine in order to secure hardline, Trump-era immigration policies. GOP lawmakers continue to demand Trump-style policies such as fast track deportations and new powers to block all asylum seekers. As immigration and progressive groups continue urging Democratic lawmakers to reject the GOP’s demands, it is also incumbent on Democrats to champion effective immigration solutions that will strengthen and invest in our immigration system and local communities.

In October, President Biden released a supplemental funding request that included $14 billion to direct additional resources to border security, asylum processing, regional initiatives, and support for receiving communities throughout the U.S. These investments, meant to bolster the capacity of an overwhelmed system rather than punish those seeking safety, stand in clear contrast to GOP proposals–which former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official Jason Houser labeled “a human trafficker’s dream.”

Using the GOP’s own metrics, as first reported by The Messenger, Democrats should employ a stronger offensive strategy that demonstrates the effectiveness of orderly and humane immigration policies:

  • Current migrant flows at the southern border: 

    • What Republicans are demanding: Their solution to the influx of migrants at the border is to reignite Title 42 on steroids, shut down the border and block asylum seekers. This approach is unrealistic, unworkable, harmful, and undermines international law. 

    • What Democrats can be for: Expanding capacity at ports of entry would enable those seeking asylum to approach CBP officers in an orderly fashion, with appointments. This reduces irregular crossings between the ports of entry that strain Border Patrol resources. Additional CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) staffing could open additional ports for processing more CBP One appointments (CBP One is the app that allows asylum-seekers in northern Mexico to make appointments at ports of entry.)

    • Reduce the backlog by resourcing USCIS. USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) is the part of DHS responsible for processing legal immigration, asylum and work permit applications. All of these paths to legal status are badly backlogged. By resourcing the capacity of USCIS to process legal immigration applicants in a timely and efficient manner, we can incentivize legal pathways for those who qualify and disincentivize irregular border crossings.  

  • Addressing human and sex traffickers and fentanyl at the border:

    • What Republicans are demanding: According to Jason Houser, former Chief of Staff at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), GOP proposals would create a “five-alarm response” across the federal government that would turn critical resources away from intercepting fentanyl and human and sex trafficking. In fact, many of the GOP presidential candidates propose to go even further by authorizing military force against Mexico–which experts warn would undermine interdiction efforts.

    • What Democrats can be for: Deploying more resources for inspections and enforcement. President Biden’s supplemental request includes $1.2 billion for counter-fentanyl activities, including additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, state-of-the-art inspection technologies, and testing and tracing activities for the Department of Justice.

  • Newly-arrived immigrants in U.S. cities: 

    • What Republicans are demanding: Republicans are not interested in resettling any immigrants, despite severe worker shortages and many welcoming communities. In fact, GOP lawmakers continue pushing for the nationwide expansion of expedited removal, which would authorize deportations while denying immigrants due process protections, and the creation of a new expulsion authority.

    • What Democrats can be for: Providing federal support for receiving communities impacted by our overwhelmed asylum system. The administration’s 2023 supplemental request included $600 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program (SSP) grants. These programs work to ensure safe onward travel for those admitted after passing an initial screening and they support local communities and states who are tasked with responding to the basic needs of those arriving in their areas. Border communities and receiving cities should be made whole for shouldering the impacts of federal operations. Where possible, strategies should be developed and resourced to direct immigrants to areas of the country that hope to receive them to help fill labor shortages.

  • Addressing root causes of global migration:

    • What Republicans are demanding: Nothing. Republicans refuse to acknowledge the reasons that individuals migrate in the first place. As Houser states, “immigration starts when a person decides to seek a better life elsewhere and leave their home — not at the southern border.”

    • What Democrats can be for: The Biden administration has rightly prioritized the need for a coordinated hemispheric response to the hemispheric forced migration crisis. The Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection adopted by nations in the Western Hemisphere in 2022 points the way forward: 1) invest in migration strategies throughout the Americas so that more nations do their fair share – by providing safe haven to refugees and work permission to settled migrants; 2) expand new Safe Mobility Offices (SMOs) throughout the hemisphere to facilitate the legal migration of needed workers, family reunification cases and qualified refugees to the U.S. and other countries; and 3) through programs administered by State Department, USAID and multilateral development banks, expand humanitarian and development programs that address the drivers of forced migration so that more of those considering migration can find safety and opportunity at home.   

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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.