In the absence of reforms, additional measures for immigrants are urgently needed

With so much negative immigration news in previous months, President Joe Biden’s announcement last week to renew the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid for dreamers was like a balm. A positive reaction began immediately, from the beneficiaries of the measures themselves to lawmakers and pro-immigrant groups.

The news was also like an oasis in the middle of the desert, which was a promise to improve the lot of millions of immigrants. They have waited more than three decades just to feel accepted in a society that uses them in its economy but leaves them out of the realm of its legal structure and immigration reform.

Indeed, we need more action like President Biden’s recent, given that the possibilities for legislative immigration reform are zero for now with the House of Representatives in Republican control, and Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California has warned that nothing will change. beneficial immigrants will see the light,

In fact, this week the House Judiciary Committee will consider a Republican bill introduced Monday that combines Donald Trump’s most restrictive and punitive measures; among them are undermining asylum laws and allowing entire families to be detained at the border.

But on Tuesday, New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez put forward immigration plan it does not require congressional intervention and, among other things, will expedite the asylum process and the deportation of those without credible cases; creates temporary protected status (TPS) for Central America; and is offering a humanitarian pardon (parole) for the 12 million undocumented people who now live in fear of deportation.

If we look closely, this plan opens up a new avenue not only for the immigration debate, but for bringing forward real solutions that take into account, above all, the lives of millions of people; entire families who work hard day in and day out to keep the local economy afloat, doing jobs that only immigrants can do, and schools, banks, hospitals and a whole gamut of small businesses that are always there to help.

In other words, Menendez’s intention is to show that there are things that can be done without an act of Congress, and that there is no need to focus only on the frontier and let that overshadow other things that can be done.

It also sends a signal to the White House that they don’t need to focus only on punitive measures, but put forward initiatives that offer some relief until something is achieved at the legislative level. It is clear that the administration did not offer any positive executive actions, fearing a lawsuit, but we must at least try.

June 27 marks the tenth anniversary of the founding pass from S. 744 in the US Senate. This bill offered a path to the legalization and then citizenship of millions of undocumented people. It was approved by a vote of 68 to 32 with the support of the entire Democratic and 14 Republican factions in the Senate, which at the time was a Democratic majority.

But, as has been the case for years, the Republicans who controlled the House of Representatives let it die because they were solely focused on preventing any glimmer of a reasonable solution and, as now, wanted to use the problem to keep their base. MAGA. motivated, since the solution of this issue would remove the electoral battering ram.

That’s why Biden and any Democrat in the White House should not be playing this game and should be proposing and implementing measures that benefit immigrants, the country, and the economy. And, of course, it is also politically beneficial. While immigration is not a top priority for Hispanic voters, it lets them know they support candidates, whether out of sympathy or because millions of families are of mixed immigration status and thus many lives are affected by the lack of immigration reform.

Now, as the end of Section 42 approaches, and the White House fears the political implications of what is happening on the border, the president should remember that he will never enlist the support of Republican extremists, no matter what. But in his eagerness to show a hard line, he may alienate voters who, despite everything, supported the Democratic Party, hoping for immigration reform.

To read the Spanish version of this article, click Here.