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Bipartisan senators drafting immigration 'framework' that would protect DACA recipients [1]
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Date: 2022-12-06
Sargent writes that while “details are in flux,” reported discussions include permanent protections for roughly 2 million young undocumented immigrants. Hundreds of thousands of these young immigrants are currently protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has been steadily sledgehammered by Republicans “and will likely be terminated by the courts in the near future,” said Todd Schulte, president of immigration reform advocacy group FWD.us. Hence the need to act now during the lame duck session.
But as Schulte also said, there are “other parts of this reported framework that are concerning,” namely border security measures that would include extending Stephen Miller’s debunked Title 42 order, which the Biden administration is set to end by Dec. 21 following a federal judge’s ruling. Sinema had previously supported a GOP-pushed effort to continue the policy, which was implemented by Miller and Mike Pence against the advice of CDC experts.
Sargent writes that the proposal has Title 42 continuing until new processing centers for asylum-seekers are operational, “with the aim of a one-year cutoff.” But the Title 42 policy stomping on the U.S. asylum system is nearing three years old, and with this proposed cut-off heading right into the 2024 election year, it’s not at all hard to see that date getting delayed and basically becoming indefinite. But Title 42’s inclusion is apparently what’s viewed as the best way to get 10 Republicans needed to overcome the Jim Crow filibuster. While Sargent’s initial reporting doesn’t include dollar figures, CNN reports increased border security funding anywhere from $25 billion to $40 billion on top of the billions border agencies already get.
“’The devil is in the details,’ Robyn Barnard, a lawyer for Human Rights First, told me,” Sargent continued. “‘We believe Congress should protect dreamers,’ she said, but noted that it’s ‘unconscionable’ to ‘trade the lives of one immigrant group for another.’”
“While we are encouraged by the real prospect of legislation this year, we also recognize that there are many key details to be determined,” said Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of immigrant rights advocacy group America’s Voice. “In particular, we are clear eyed about the reality that a significant number of Republican Senate votes will be needed to move legislation forward and our accompanying recognition that a bipartisan compromise will likely include provisions we would oppose on their own.”
She said the group was urging lawmakers “to oppose proposals that will actually make border control and management worse, like extending Trump-era asylum policies designed to keep valid asylum claims from ever reaching the inside of a U.S. court of law.” We know Title 42 is deeply flawed. Like immigration policy experts have noted, it actually increased border apprehensions.
“The time to act is now, and we need our elected officials to move swiftly while there is still an opportunity for a bipartisan solution,” said Paula Muñóz, director of campaign organizing for the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “Without a permanent solution, our country and our economy will likely face the prospect of hundreds of thousands of individuals who have been registering with the DACA program for more than a decade losing their jobs due to impending legal rulings on DACA caused by Republican lawsuits to kill the program.”
“The pressure is on to act quickly, before the House GOP majority makes the task much more difficult in 2023,” Muñóz continued. “We will be vigilant as key details are finalized. We will be vocal against any efforts to weaken our asylum system, criminalize undocumented immigrants, and militarize the Southern border.”
Affected individuals and their advocates have been pushing lawmakers for weeks to come up with a deal to pass in the lame duck session, and according to this report, talks may actually be happening. That’s important, and voters from the 2022 midterms made clear they want to see an end to DACA recipients’ limbo. What’s also important is “that while this process moves forward, any legislation maintains the right to apply for asylum on US soil and that all asylum seekers maintain access to due process,” Schulte continued. Recent polling also shows strong support for the U.S. asylum system. Passage of a pathway to legalization by Congress that would then be signed into law by President Biden would be a truly historic achievement. But can it be done without being cruel?
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/6/2140346/-Bipartisan-senators-drafting-immigration-framework-that-would-protect-DACA-recipients
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