President-elect Joe Biden and his White House transition team just cautioned Americans that Biden would not ‘undo’ all of President Trump’s immigration policies. These are the same immigration policies he talked about getting rid of under a Biden Administration but, of course, it was all talk just to get people into voting for him. The media will never call him out on the facts or how hypocritical this is either.
Biden accused President Trump of building cages that kept immigrants at the border, even though photographic evidence proves they were built under the Obama Administration, and used his campaign to express immigration as one of the urgent matters he will tackle in office.
Biden’s campaign team also accused President Trump of using “restrictive asylum policies” that sent more than 60,000 migrants home to Mexico until their hearings were held at the border.
Biden has promised on “day one” to terminate the Migrant Protection Protocol policy and work with authorities in Mexico and other Latin American nations on immigration policy. It is a program that requires thousands of asylum seekers to await their U.S immigration hearings in Mexico instead of being allowed in the United States. Trump administration officials argue that this has helped end the practice of “catch-and-release” and a pull factor that was drawing migrants north. It has also dramatically reduced processing times.
Biden has suggested creating a different system that puts “asylum judges” in place with a quicker hearing in the states. He has asked the American people to “trust him” with an immigration plan, even though he is already pulling back on core campaign promises.
Biden has also promised to end the building of the border wall, placing a 100-day moratorium on Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation, create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and end asylum cooperative agreements with Northern Triangle countries.
Biden’s incoming domestic policy adviser Susan E. Rice recently told the Washington Post that they would “need time” to try and solve the immigration issues at hand instead of complicating them more. She said they would need the OK from Congress to make legislative changes.
“We will be able to take some steps to change policies right away. Others will take time to put in place, and the situation at the border will not transform overnight due in large part to the damage done over the last four years. But we are committed to addressing it in full. Migrants and asylum seekers absolutely should not believe those in the region peddling the idea that the border will suddenly be fully open to process everyone on Day 1. It will not,” Rice said.
Rep. Ilhan Omar called out Susan E. Rice and the rest of the Biden administration for a classic “bait and switch” situation. “It perpetuates Trump’s dehumanization of migrants and breaks a core campaign promise. Democrats lose big when administrations won’t fulfill their promise. I urge the Biden transition team to reconsider this position,” she tweeted.
Under the Obama Administration, Biden assisted in deporting more immigrants than any other administration. He helped start the cages, why would he stop them now?
