15 actions Biden has taken to open the US border without Congressional approval
Biden used climate change as a reason to increase the number of refugees admitted to the US each year.
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Biden used climate change as a reason to increase the number of refugees admitted to the US each year.
Biden has been pushing to open the border, and keep it open, allowing a flood of illegal immigrants into the United States, since his first day in office. Would-be illegal immigrants have been making the trek to the US-Mexico border since he won the election, banking on his promises to reverse Trump's tough-on-immigration policies.
Now, Biden has claimed that for some reason he needs Congress to give him more money to manage the border before he can reverse his own policies and close the gates to the world, or at least limit entry. He wants money to pay more border agents and more immigration judges, both of which would simply increase the number of immigrants who can processed after illegal entry and released into the United States. He's also said that, once he got this extra cash and staff, he could limit entry once the border hits "overflow," as if more than 8 million illegal immigrants coming into the US in three years wasn't overflow already.
1. On day 1, Biden issued the "Proclamation on Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to The United States." This lifted the visa restrictions Trump had imposed on those coming from nations that harbor terrorists, including Burma, Eritrea, Iran, Venezuela, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, and Yemen. Trump put restrictions on those visas because those nations were unable to ensure that those to whom visas were issued were not terrorists.
2. Also on day 1, Biden issued the "Executive Order on the Revision of Civil Immigration Enforcement Policies and Priorities." This again was a reversal of a Trump-era policy that demanded the deportation of illegal immigrants in the US and pulled funding from states that would not comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the removal of these illegal immigrants. After Biden's EO, deportations fell to a record low.
3. Biden was extra busy that first day in office ensuring that America was a safe place for illegal immigrants. He gave DHS a memo titled "Preserving and Fortifying Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)," requiring the preservation of DACA, an Obama era program, that offered a path to legal residency in the US for those brought as children to the US illegally.
4. Again, first day in office, Biden put out the "Proclamation on the Termination Of Emergency With Respect To The Southern Border Of The United States And Redirection Of Funds Diverted To Border Wall Construction." In other words, he stopped the construction of the border wall. He claimed that the border wall construction caused "environmental and cultural destruction."
5. Biden added illegal immigrations to the census for the purposes of reconfiguring the allocation of representatives in Congress. This was called the "Executive Order on Ensuring a Lawful and Accurate Enumeration and Apportionment Pursuant to the Decennial Census."
6. The "Memorandum Reinstating Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians" prioritized Liberians for refugee status and work authorization in the US and was again put into effect on Biden's first day in office.
7. Biden backed the "US Citizenship Act of 2021" which would give an 8-year pathway to citizenship to some 11 million illegal immigrants in the US. In other words, amnesty. The expansive Act was not passed. This bill would have established "a path to citizenship for certain undocumented individuals. The bill also replaces the term alien with noncitizen in the immigration statutes and addresses other related issues."
8. Biden reversed Trump's Remain in Mexico policy with the "DHS Statement on the Suspension of New Enrollments in the Migrant Protection Protocols Program." This policy allowed US immigration enforcement to make illegal immigrants who applied for asylum wait in Mexico for their hearings. Under Biden, these asylum seekers are released into the US after being given free cell phones, $3000 gift cards, and a court date some five or more years into the future.
9. The "Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Non-Immigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting Coronavirus Disease" was issued 4 days into Biden's administration and denied entry based on Covid concerns. This is the first guidance of his administration that would limit illegal immigrants, and it was only because it conflicted with his other crisis, Covid.
10. Biden's "Executive Order on the Establishment of Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families" sought to "reunify" families who were separated under the Trump administration for a brief period in the spring of 2017. This was intended to be a deterrent under Trump, to encourage illegal immigrants to not come to the US or risk having children separated from the adults who travelled with them. The reason for this was that children are not legally allowed to be detained for more than 20 days, while adults can be liable to criminal prosecution for the crime of crossing illegally. Obama also practiced family separation as a deterrent. In the absence of this measure, children are essentially a "golden ticket" to adults crossing the border with them as both are released into the US.
11. Inclusion and equity were at the heart of Biden's February 2021 "Executive Order on Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans." This required the Secretary of State, Attorney General, and DHS Secretary to "focus on promoting immigrant integration and inclusion," and to "develop a plan to improve the naturalization process and present it within 60 days."
12. Also in February 2021, within his first month in office, Biden created the "Executive Order on Creating a Comprehensive Regional Framework to Address the Causes of Migration, to Manage Migration Throughout North and Central America, and to Provide Safe and Orderly Processing of Asylum Seekers at the United States Border." Vice President Kamala Harris was tasked with uncovering the "root causes" of illegal immigration from these nations in Central and South America. Harris claimed that roots of illegal immigration included "the issue of poverty and the lack, therefore, of economic opportunities; the issue of extreme weather conditions and the lack of climate adaptation; as well as corruption and the lack of good governance; and violence against women, Indigenous people, LGBTQ people, and Afro-descendants." She announced an additional $310 million to be spent on the region. This EO also created more avenues for illegal immigrants to enter the US using asylum and refugee claims.
This EO also revoked more of the executive actions that Trump enacted to curb illegal immigration, with the net effect of encouraging illegal immigration. Trump's order directed "executive departments and agencies (agencies) to deploy all lawful means to secure the Nation's southern border, to prevent further illegal immigration into the United States, and to repatriate illegal aliens swiftly, consistently, and humanely." Biden reversed that. He also reversed the requirement that those illegal immigrants who entered the US without inspection would not be eligible for asylum.
A key reversal Biden made with this EO was to the Trump provision to prevent DHS from releasing illegal immigrants from detainment while their cases were still pending in immigration court. Under Biden, these illegal immigrants are simply released into the US under their own recognizance.
13. Again in February 2021, only days into his presidency, Biden issued the "Executive Order on Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs to Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration." This EO tied together two of Biden's favorite efforts: climate change mitigation and opening the US border. Biden used climate change as a reason to increase the number of refugees admitted to the US each year to 125,000 from the 15,000 under Trump.
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14. In 2021, Biden increased the annual cap on refugees from 15,000 to 62,500 with the "Memorandum for the Secretary of State on the Emergency Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2021." This came after he increased the 2022 cap to 125,000. The administration claimed that 62,500 was the right number for 2021, because it would be too challenging to resettle 125,000 refugees into the US in one year. They even said that the 62,500 would be a challenge.
15. By May 2021, the Biden administration expanded their border admittance priorities to include families with young children and people who identify as transgender as part of "humanitarian exceptions." This effort was not publicized but was part of DHS work to "streamline a system for identifying and lawfully processing particularly vulnerable individuals who warrant humanitarian exceptions under the order," and came under Title 42.
Now, Biden claims he needs Congress to act before he can close the border. As for the bill he has backed in Congress, he said. "It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law. Further, Congress needs to finally provide the funding I requested in October to secure the border. This includes an additional 1,300 border patrol agents, 375 immigration judges, 1,600 asylum officers, and over 100 cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect and stop fentanyl at our southwest border."
Perhaps Biden has forgotten about the executive orders and memos he's issued over the years that work to keep the border open and encourage illegal immigration to the US worldwide. Congress had no say in those, nor did the American people, no matter how much they say illegal immigration is a top concern.
