The Biden-Biden Project: The White House has a Problem, but the Department of Homeland Security is Dealing with Its Challenges
The Department of Homeland Security created a plan months ago to deal with the thousands of migrants arriving at the border.
It has been an endless cycle since President Joe Biden took office, according to multiple administration officials and sources close to the White House. The problem is getting worse as Republicans increase their criticism, even though agency officials dream up a plan but struggle to get White House approval.
“Everything seems to influence each other,” one Homeland Security official told CNN. Things develop. People make changes to their minds. They lose one battle, and they do this instead.”
Concerns over increasing border arrests is in part based on mass movement across the Western Hemisphere, where thousands of migrants, particularly Venezuelans, are fleeing deteriorating conditions.
“Interior assistance and community support is something the White House is only serious about discussing when encounter rates rise,” another Homeland Security official told CNN, adding that additional big policy changes aren’t expected until after the midterm election.
The process can sometimes be bogged down by disagreements between the White House and DHS. The Department of Homeland Security is under pressure to reduce the flow of people between the US and Mexico, and in doing so is asking for additional info from the White House, sources told CNN. DHS officials are disagreeing about policy, including interior processing.
The areas that we have been working through together may also be different among agencies, a source familiar with internal discussions said.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/20/politics/immigration-migrants-biden-border-policy/index.html
Rebuilding the Trump-Biden immigration system with smart, deliberative and collaborative work: The case of the joint processing centers for Venezuelans
Last week, the administration announced a program for migrants from Venezuela, as well as expanding the use of the controversial emergency restriction on the border.
“Encouraging robust debate, hearing different ideas, and getting lots of expertise before making policy decisions that impact millions of lives is a feature, not a bug,” said Abdullah Hasan, a White House spokesperson, in a statement. The smart, deliberative and collaborative approach that we have seen has helped rebuild the immigration system.
A DHS spokesperson defended the administration’s response to what it called a “broken and dismantled immigration system” it inherited from the Trump administration.
“The administration has effectively managed an unprecedented number of noncitizens seeking to enter the United States, interdicted more drugs, and disrupted more smuggling operations than ever before, all while reversing the cruel and harmful policies of the prior administration,” the spokesperson said.
Immigration was among the first issues Biden faced when a surge of unaccompanied minors caught the administration flatfooted in the first months of his presidency. The growing number of migrants at the border has continued to loom over the immigration agenda of the administration.
Republican governors have sent migrants to Democratic cities as an attack on Democrats and the White House, drawing heavy criticism from immigrant advocates, city officials and the Biden administration.
The administration has faced criticism from immigrant advocates and Democrats over its increased emphasis on enforcement, which resulted in the administration turning back thousands of Venezuela migrants at the border.
“Expanding Title 42 to now include Venezuelans adds salt to an open wound while further eroding our asylum system that President Biden promised to restore,” said Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey in a statement.
There is now a regulation that allows asylum officers to hear and decide asylum cases when migrants are present at the border, and also a dedicated immigration court docket for migrant families. A White House immigration plan was released last year.
The White House has received briefings from DHS about plans for the joint processing centers, the source familiar with internal discussions told CNN, describing it as the normal course of business.
According to the source, you have to meet the directions of the appropriation and the priorities the secretary of Homeland Security has set, likely or in coordination with the White House.
The challenge for the Biden administration: implementing the humanitarian program for the Venezuelan people and bringing back refugees to the U.S.
Poor economic conditions, food shortages and limited access to health care are pushing the citizens of Venezuela to leave, posing an urgent challenge for the Biden administration. The number of people fleeing Venezuela is equal to the number of people who have been displaced by Syria, according to the UN.
“These actions make clear that there is a lawful and orderly way for Venezuelans to enter the United States, and lawful entry is the only way,” he said in a statement. Those who attempt to cross the southern border of the US illegally will be sent back to Mexico and will not be allowed to reenter the country in the future.
Last week, Alejandro Mayorkas reiterated the importance of the humanitarian parole program in the case of migrants from Venezuela.
Administration officials have also been working closely with countries across the Western Hemisphere to try to manage the flow of migration north and set up protections closer to migrant origin countries.
“A big challenge for this issue is that it sits on the cracks of a whole set of structures at the White House,” said a former Obama administration official. “It is a highly complicated process and that all is just dealing with logistic management of moving people around. Expansion of alternative avenues for people to have access to relief is something that can’t be done alone.
“Much of the focus, and much of the public focus, is on the short-term emergency and how do you manage the movement of people,” said Cecilia Munoz, the former director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Barack Obama, noting that Congress also hasn’t provided any new tools to the government.
It is difficult to make a decision because of the Republicans’ intentions of making political payouts of the situation. No decision is solely based on the merits of the contemplated action. All of it has political resonance,” Munoz said.
progressive Democrats who are running in competitive House races argue that the moderates in the party spend too much time focused on enforcement.
A State-Dependent Health Rule After the Phenomenon: Implications for the Children of a Child in the United States
A spokeswoman for Mr. Kelly said that he advocated for legal pathways to citizenship and in-state tuition for immigrants brought to the country as children but prioritized the needs of Arizonans over political party lines.
His administration kept the issue front and center, with hard-line measures that included barring travel from several predominantly Muslim countries; ending protections for young immigrants brought into the country illegally as children; and separating migrant parents from their children at the border to deter crossings. Mr. Trump used a public health rule during the Pandemic to expel asylum seekers.
The president’s attempt to overturn the pandemic-era health rule drew criticism from congressional Democrats facing tough re-election fights, including Mr. Cuellar and Mr. Gonzalez as well as Senators Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. The rollback remains blocked under a court order.