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AUSTIN, Texas One of the 2020 election's great surprises the color change from Democrat blue to Trump red of deeply Latino districts along the Texas-Mexico border has already given way to introspection and early conclusions that Republican messaging on economic policy pushed this reliably Democratic constituency rightward.

Center for Immigration Studies interviews with numerous residents on the Texas border and an analysis of hyper-local border media reports certainly confirm that voters in historically blue counties like Starr, Zapata, Cameron, Webb, Val Verde, La Salle, Frio, and many others that either went red for the first time in living memory or came close did feel repelled by Joe Biden's talk of transitioning away from oil and gas fracking and pandemic-related business lockdowns.

But that was the least of it. Left largely unreported in the national press is that hundreds of thousands of Latino voters in rural Texas the sons and daughters of early legal migration also felt repulsed by the 2019 mass-migration crisis during which nearly one million illegal Central Americans swamped the border as Democratic voices encouraged it, litigated efforts to staunch the tide, and promised open gates under a Biden administration.

"The immigration thing was another reason. A lot of our community from Mexico came here legally. Others were born here in Texas," said Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, a lifelong Democrat who stuck to his own party and won a fourth term in Val Verde County, which turned red around him for the first time in decades.

"The general feeling is that if someone comes to the U.S. they need to do it legally. I think that was probably a good majority of the Republican vote, yes."

A Biden presidency was widely viewed as portending more of the same, according to Gilbert Rodriguez, a fourth-generation co-owner of a family-held industrial equipment business in Del Rio, Texas, in Val Verde County and a staunch Republican who has often felt politically lonely.

Rodriguez said his mother's family stretches back as a recipient of one of the region's original Spanish land grants. His father's family has lived on the Texas side for generations in the same area as proud Americans of Mexican heritage.

The experience of seeing "armies" of unvetted strangers from all over the world Haitians, Congolese, Middle Easterners, and others pour over from Mexico during 2018 and 2019,with the encouragement and political protection of national Democrats, not only turned off many Latinos in the region to the party but also "scared them shitless", explained Rodriguez, who lives 500 feet from the Rio Grande and recalled how Border Patrol would routinely "line them up and frisk them on our fence".

"It's not just Mexican people, and they're not coming one or two at a time. There are thousands and thousands," Rodriguez told CIS this week, adding that criminals and murderers are always among them. "A lot of the Hispanics don't like that. They don't like that. They're saying, 'our people filled out the papers and paid the fees and followed the rule of law.' They want everyone to follow the law. Just ... follow the law. And instead these people are just coming over and flipping the bird at us and just saying, 'feed me.'"

Along illegal immigration lines, federal agencies are a major source of employment and stability for border communities. Voters there recoiled at seeing and hearing Democrats nationwide demonize their bread-winners for months on end and obviously went hard the opposite way, said Tony Castaneda, former police chief of Eagle Pass and Republican precinct chairman in next-door Maverick County, where the vote for Trump was surprisingly strong.

Castaneda said he knew what was going to happen when he helped organize a Trump vehicle caravan that drew at least 2,000 participants in his historically blue county.

A large part of the Trump support was a strong repudiation of relentless condemnations among demonstrators in big Democratic cities and in Congress of Border Patrol, ICE, and detention facilities that provide jobs.

"The left attacks, and all the unrest and stuff like that, yes. The Border Patrol guys ... they were really upset about people not accepting them," Castaneda said.

The Latino border vote in Texas also seemed to stand at sharp variance with a widely and broadly repeated narrative that Donald Trump is a racist whose anti-Hispanic animus was manifested in his immigration-enforcement policies.

But Castaneda, Rodriguez, and others said they thought large numbers of people along the river never believed the Trump-is-racist story and saw it more as a Democratic narrative designed to divide people and win votes. The opposite happened among Latinos outside Texas's largest urban areas, Castaneda said.

"The media CNN, ABC, CBS they kept pounding and pounding and pounding about Trump not liking Hispanics, and again I go back to the same line: A lot of people believed he was not a racist, that it was just political jargon to lambast the president," said Castaneda, whose home is just yards from the Rio Grande and is often a rest stop for illegal immigrants.

He would often tell the Central American migrants as Border Patrol arrived to pick them up on his property: "It's not that Trump doesn't want you to come; he just wants you to do it legally. People like you guys ... you cannot just come and invade another country like you're doing now."

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Latinos in South Texas Voted Against Illegal Immigration and CBP Demonization - Immigration Blog

1 David J. Bier, Americas Foreign Share Is in The Bottom Third among Richest Nations, Cato at Liberty (blog), September 25, 2020.

2 David J. Bier, No Year Has Seen Legal Immigration Cut Like the 2nd Half of FY 2020, Cato at Liberty (blog), October 13, 2020.

3 David J. Bier, No Year Has Seen Legal Immigration Cut Like the 2nd Half of FY 2020, Cato at Liberty (blog), October 13, 2020.

4 Jens Manuel Krogstad, Jeffrey S. Passel, and DVera Cohn, 5 Facts about Illegal Immigration in the U.S., Pew Research Center, June 12, 2019.

5 For afull explanation of this recommendation, see Alex Nowrasteh and David J. Bier, Three New Ways for Congress to Legalize Illegal Immigrants, Cato Institute, Immigration Research and Policy Brief no. 12, April 10, 2019.

6 Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, S. 744, 113th Congress, 2013.

7 8USC 1182(a)(9)(B)-(C).

8 This would require simply striking 8USC 1182(a)(9)(B)-(C).

9 For afuller explanation of this recommendation, see Alex Nowrasteh and David J. Bier, Three New Ways for Congress to Legalize Illegal Immigrants, Cato Institute, Immigration Research and Policy Brief No. 12, April 10, 2019.

10 8USC 1259(a).

11 Strike January 1, 1972 in 8USC 1259(a) and replace with a date that is not less than 10years prior to the date of application under this section.

12 GOV.UK, Immigration Rules Part 7: Other Categories, para. A246276BVI.

13 This would require amending 8USC 1362 by striking (at no expense to the Government) and inserting at the end: The government shall provide such counsel if the person cannot afford such counsel.

14 Ingrid Eagly and Steven Shafer, Access to Counsel in Immigration Court, American Immigration Council, September 28, 2016.

15 Christina Jewett and Shefali Luthra, Immigrant Toddlers Ordered to Appear in Court Alone, Texas Tribune, June 27, 2018.

16 David J. Bier, Details of 155 Immigration Detainers for U.S. Citizens, Cato at Liberty (blog), June 3, 2020.

17 Department of Homeland Security, FY 2021 Budget in Brief, 2020, p. 86.

18 Department of Homeland Security, FY 2021 Budget in Brief, 2020, p. 86.

19 John D. Montgomery, Cost of Counsel in Immigration: Economic Analysis of Providing Public Counsel to Indigent Persons Subject to Immigration Removal Proceedings, NERA Economic Consulting, May 28, 2014, p. 5.

20 Ingrid Eagly and Steven Shafer, Access to Counsel in Immigration Court, American Immigration Council, September 28, 2016.

21 American Immigration Council, Immigrants and Families Appear in Court, July 30, 2019.

22 This would require amending 8USC 1231(b) to add anew paragraph stating that (4) Withholding of Removal for Low Priority Cases.The Secretary of Homeland Security may not remove an alien if the Secretary has affirmatively declined to pursue removal of the alien for not less than 24 months if the alien meets the requirements of paragraph (3)(B). Such alien shall apply to the Secretary to receive documentary authorization to reside indefinitely, be employed, and return to the United States after traveling abroad.

23 Shoba S. Wadhia, My Great FOIA Adventure and Discoveries of Deferred Action Cases at ICE, Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 27 (2013): 34585.

24 Griselda Nevarez, Arizona Woman Deported to Mexico despite Complying with Immigration Officials, Guardian, February 9, 2017.

25 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, How to Apply for Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and/or Protection under Article 3of the Convention Against Torture, October 2011.

26 For the Tax Court, see 26 USC sec. 74417487. For the only bill on the subject, see H.R. 185, 106th Congress, 1999. The Federal Bar Association has created model legislation as well: Federal Bar Association, Article IImmigration Court, 2020.

27 Government Accountability Office, Immigration Courts: Actions Needed to Reduce Case Backlog and Address LongStanding Management and Operational Challenges, GAO-17438, June 2017.

28 Government Accountability Office, Immigration Courts: Actions Needed to Reduce Case Backlog and Address LongStanding Management and Operational Challenges, GAO-17438, June 2017.

29 Immigration and Naturalization Service, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics (Washington: DOJ, 1992); Department of Homeland Security, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics (Washington: DHS, 2019); Department of Homeland Security, Legal Immigration and Status Report Quarterly Data, 2018; Nonimmigrant Visa Statistics, Department of State, 2020; Total CBP Enforcement Actions, Customs and Border Protection, 2019; Border Patrol, Nationwide Illegal Alien Apprehensions Fiscal Years 19252018, Department of Homeland Security, 2019; Border Patrol, Border Patrol Agent Nationwide Staffing by Fiscal Year, Department of Homeland Security, 2018; and Border Patrol Agents: Southern Versus Northern Border, Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, 2006.

30 Philip Martin, Good Intentions Gone Awry: IRCA and U.S. Agriculture, Annals of the Academy of Political and Social Science 534 (July): 4457.

31 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Reports and StudiesUSCIS Program Reports: H-2B, 2020; and Government Accountability Office, Overstay Enforcement: Additional Actions Needed to Assess DHSs Data and Improve Planning for aBiometric Air Exit Program, GAO-13683, July 2013.

32 Amend 8USC 1151(b)(1) to add (F) Aliens who have been admitted to perform labor or services as nonimmigrants under section 101(a)(15) in not fewer than 10years.

33 Amend 8USC 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii) by striking of atemporary or seasonal nature.

34 Amend 8USC 1188(h) to insert (3) The period of employment or length of stay of anonimmigrant admitted under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii) of this title may not be limited as long as such nonimmigrant remains employed pursuant to this section.

35 David J. Bier, H-2A Visas for Agriculture: The Complex Process for Farmers to Hire Agricultural Guest Workers, Cato Institute, Immigration Research and Policy Brief no. 17, March 10, 2020.

36 Amend 8USC 1188(a) to insert the language from Sec. 201 of Subtitle Aof Title II of H.R. 5038, Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019, 116th Congress, 2019.

37 Amend 8USC 1188(a) to add (3) In no year may the Secretary of Labor increase the required wage for an H-2A worker more than the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) or similar inflation measure in the prior year.

38 Amend 8USC 1188(c)(4) to add at the end: An employer may deduct not more than 50 percent of the market rate for housing and any required transportation expenses from the wage required under this section.

39 Amend 8USC 1188(a) to insert the language from Sec. 206 of Subtitle Aof Title II of H.R. 5038, Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019, 116th Congress, 2019, but without the numerical limitations.

40 Strike 8USC 1184(g)(1)(B).

41 Amend 8USC 1184(g)(9)(A) by striking fiscal year 2013, 2014, or 2015 and inserting in any of the prior 3fiscal years and striking during fiscal year 2016.

42 Amend 8USC 1184(c)(5) to insert: (C) As part of the consultation under this subsection, the Secretary of Labor shall certify ajob described under section 101(a)(15)(h)(ii)(B) as ajob for which unemployed persons capable of performing such service or labor cannot be found in this country if the job requires the applicant to commit to return to atemporary or seasonal position in successive years, and no such person committed to return.

43 78 FR 24047, April 24, 2013.

44 Amend 8USC 1182(p)(4) by adding at the end: The Secretary of Labor shall apply this paragraph to aliens entering under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(B).

45 Subtitle Gof Title IV of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, 113th Congress, 2013, is auseful starting point for such aprogram, but the caps should be eliminated.

46 Jeffrey S. Passel and DVera Cohn, Size of U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Workforce Stable after the Great Recession, Pew Research Center, November 3, 2016.

47 United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment codified through the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (Title II, Subtitle C, Division Gof P.L. 10527); and 1967 United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.

48 Jaya RamjiNogales, NonRefoulement under the Trump Administration, ASIL Insights 23, no. 11 (December 3, 2019).

49 Shaw Drake et al., Re: CBPs Unlawful Turn Back of Mexican Asylum Seekers at Ports of Entry, American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, November 14, 2019.

50 Amend 8USC 1225(b)(1)(A)(ii) by adding at the end: Officers may not block an alien from reaching aport of entry to seek to apply for asylum or express afear of return.

51 Strike subparagraph (C) of 8USC 1158(b).

52 Amend 8USC 1225(b)(B)(ii) by inserting at the end or, if the alien sought entry at aport of entry, paroled into the United States for athreeyear period subject to renewal for as long as the officer determines that the alien has acredible fear of persecution. Amend 8USC 1182(d)(5)(B) by adding at the end or is an applicant for asylum at aport of entry who an officer has determined has acredible fear of persecution. Amend 8USC 1158(d)(2) by adding at the end: An applicant who an officer determines to have acredible fear of persecution shall be authorized to be employed in the United States at such time.

53 State Department, Refugee Admissions by Region, 2020.

54 State Department, Refugee Admissions by Region, 2020.

55 David J. Bier, Encouraging Findings of the Trump Administrations Report on Refugees and Asylees, Cato at Liberty (blog), February 12, 2019.

56 Recommendation #22: Amend 8USC 1157(a)(2) by adding but not less than 95,000. Section 2of H.R. 2146, GRACE Act, 116th Congress, 2019, includes this.

57 Amend 8USC 1157 by inserting at the end: (g) Private sponsorship.A citizen of the United States described in paragraph (3) may file apetition to the Secretary to privately sponsor for resettlement in the United States arefugee and any spouse or minor children of the refugee if the citizen pays aprocessing fee to cover the cost of adjudication of the petition and all costs related to the admission of the refugee and submits an affidavit of support on behalf of the alien described in 8USC 1183a. Such arefugee shall not be considered aqualified alien for purposes of 8USC 1612 or 8USC 1613.

58 Amend 8USC 1151(b)(1) by inserting at the end: (F) An alien described in section 203(a) who is arefugee as defined in section 101(a)(42) and is the beneficiary of an approved immigrant petition under section 204(a). For more about this proposal, see David J. Bier, How to Save Refugees with U.S. Ties, Cato at Liberty (blog), July 20, 2016.

59 State Department, Annual Report of Immigrant Visa Applicants in the FamilySponsored and EmploymentBased Preferences Registered at the National Visa Center as of November 1, 2019, 2020.

60 David J. Bier, Immigration Wait Times from Quotas Have Doubled: Green Card Backlogs Are Long, Growing, and Inequitable, Cato Institute, Policy Analysis no. 873, June 18, 2019.

61 Strike 8USC 1152(b) through (e).

62 Amend 8USC 1151(c)(1)(B) by striking 226,000 divided by 328 million times the population of the United States as estimated by the United States Census Bureau in the most recent fiscal year. Convert the absolute values in 8USC 1153(a) to percentages.

63 Amend 8USC 1153(d) by inserting at the end: Such spouse or child shall not be charged against the numerical limitations in this section or section 201.

64 Amend 8USC 1151(b)(2)(A)(i) by striking the children, spouses, and parents of acitizen of the United States and inserting the children and spouses of acitizen or legal permanent resident of the United States and parents of acitizen of the United States. In 8USC 1153(a), in paragraph (1), strike 23,400 and insert 20 percent of such worldwide level; in paragraph (2), strike subparagraph (A), 114,200, and all that follows and insert 20 percent of such worldwide, plus any visas not required for the class specified in paragraph (1); in paragraph (3), strike 23,400 and insert 20 percent of such worldwide level; and in paragraph (4), strike 23,400 and insert 40 percent of such worldwide level.

65 Amend 8USC 1151(b)(1) by inserting at the end (F) Aliens who are beneficiaries (including derivative beneficiaries) of approved immigrant petitions bearing priority dates more than 10years prior to the aliens application for admission as an immigrant or adjustment of status.

66 Amend 8USC 1612, 8USC 1613, and 42 USC 402(t)

67 Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, P.L. 104193, August 22, 1996.

68 George Borjas, Does Welfare Reduce Poverty?, Research in Economics 70, no. 1 (2016): 14357.

69 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration (Washington: The National Academies Press, 2017), p. 445.

70 See cost too much question in Gallup, Immigration, 2020.

71 Alex Nowrasteh, Immigrants Are Attracted to Jobs, Not Welfare, Cato at Liberty (blog), March 25, 2013.

72 Alex Nowrasteh, Boost Highly Skilled Immigration, Cato Institute Online Forum, November 17, 2014.

73 Department of Homeland Security, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2018 (Washington: DHS, 2019), Table 7.

74 Alex Nowrasteh, EmploymentBased Green Cards Are Mostly Used by Family Members, Cato at Liberty (blog), July 7, 2016.

75 PL 101649, Immigration Act of 1990, November 29, 1990.

76 David J. Bier, Backlog for Skilled Immigrants Tops 1Million: Over 200,000 Indians Could Die of Old Age While Awaiting Green Cards, Cato Institute, Immigration Research and Policy Brief no. 18, March 30, 2020.

77 David J. Bier, Backlog for Skilled Immigrants Tops 1Million: Over 200,000 Indians Could Die of Old Age While Awaiting Green Cards, Cato Institute, Immigration Research and Policy Brief, No. 18.

78 To eliminate the country caps, amend 8USC 1152(a)(2) in the paragraph heading by striking AND EMPLOYMENT-BASED; by striking (3), (4), and (5) and inserting (3) and (4); by striking subsections (a) and (b) of section 203 and inserting section 203(a); and by striking such subsections and inserting such section. See generally H.R. 1044, Fairness for HighSkilled Immigrants Act of 2019, 116th Congress, 2019.

79 Amend 8USC 1153(d) by inserting at the end: Such spouse or child shall not be charged against the numerical limitations in this section or section 201.

80 Amend 8USC 1151(b)(1) by adding at the end: (F) An alien who (I) has earned amasters or higher degree in afield of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics included in the Department of Educations Classification of Instructional Programs taxonomy within the summary groups of computer and information sciences and support services, engineering, mathematics and statistics, biological and biomedical sciences, and physical sciences, from aUnited States institution of higher education; and (II) has an offer of employment from aUnited States employer in afield related to such degree.

81 Move 8USC 1153(b)(1) to 8USC 1151(b)(1) at the end and update the percentages in 8USC 1153(b)(2) through (5).

82 Amend 8USC 1151(d) by adding at the end: (3) The amount computed under paragraph (1) and this paragraph for the prior fiscal year shall be adjusted annually in proportion to the percentage increase or decrease in the Gross Domestic Product of the United States in the prior year, as determined by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce.

83 Amend 8USC 1151(b)(1) by adding at the end: (F) Aliens who are beneficiaries (including derivative beneficiaries) of approved immigrant petitions bearing priority dates more than 5years prior to the adjustment of status of the alien.

84 This could be accomplished in anumber of ways. One proposal passed the Senate in Subtitle Cof Chapter 3of Title II of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, S. 744, 113th Congress, 2013.

85 David J. Bier, What Factors Should an Immigration Points System Include?, Cato at Liberty (blog), May 23, 2019.

86 Amend 8USC 1184(g)(1)(A) by striking 65,000 and inserting 275,000. Note that 275,000 is the highest number of H-1B applications received in asingle year. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, FY 2021H-1B Cap Petitions May Be Filed as of April 1, April 1, 2020.

87 Amend 8USC 1184(g) by adding: (12) The amount computed under paragraph (1) and this paragraph for the prior fiscal year shall be adjusted annually in proportion to the percentage increase or decrease in the Gross Domestic Product of the United States in the prior year, as determined by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce.

88 David J. Bier, DOLs H-1B Wage Rule Massively Understates Wage Increases by up to 26 Percent, Cato at Liberty (blog), October 9, 2020; and David J. Bier, DOL Said Its H-1B Wage Rule Should Cost Many Employers $0 but It Imposed Billions in Costs Anyway, Cato at Liberty (blog), October 15, 2020.

89 Amend 8USC 1182(p)(4) by adding at the end: If the survey fails to include information about experience, education, and the level of supervision, the Secretary shall treat the average of the bottom third of wages in the occupation in the area of intended employment to be the entry level wage and the average of all other wages to be the highest wage level.

90 Amend 8USC 1182(n) by adding at the end: (6) The requirements of this subsection shall only apply to an employer seeking to admit anonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) for the first time, not to subsequent employers of the worker.

91 Amend 8USC 1184(g)(4) by adding at the end: but such anonimmigrant may not receive status for aperiod of less than 3years.

92 Amend 8USC 1184(c)(2)(E) by striking spouse and inserting spouse or child and striking section 101(a)(15)(L) and inserting subparagraphs (H)(i)(b) or (L) of section 101(a)(15).

93 Amend 8USC 1154(a)(1)(F) by inserting Such an alien may file apetition if the alien has been employed by aUnited States employer for not less than 1year. Amend 8USC 1182(a)(5)(D) by adding at the end: unless the alien has been employed in the United States for more than 1year.

94 This could be accomplished in the Canadian model, which has provinces sponsor immigrants for permanent residence, or as temporary residents under H.R. 5174, State Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act of 2019, 116th Congress, 2019.

95 David J. Bier, Chapter 5: StateSponsored Visas, 12 New Immigration Ideas for the 21st Century, Cato Institute, May 13, 2020.

96 David J. Bier, No Year Has Seen Legal Immigration Cut Like the 2nd Half of FY 2020, Cato at Liberty (blog), October 13, 2020.

97 Amend 8USC 1152(a)(1)(A) by inserting or anonimmigrant visa, admission or other entry into the United States, or the approval or revocation of any immigration benefit after immigrant visa; by inserting religion after sex; and by inserting except if expressly required by statute or if astatutorily authorized benefit takes into consideration such factors before the period at the end.

98 Use section 3of the H.R.2214, NO BAN Act, 116th Congress, 2019.

99 Use Title II of H.R.750, Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2007, 110th Congress, 2007.

100 8USC 1103 by inserting at the end: (h) Authorities.The Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of State, and Attorney General may restrict the rights or privileges of persons detailed under this Act only if such restriction is narrowly tailored, using the least restrictive means, to achieve acompelling government interest and carried out in accordance with all statutory requirements of this Act.

See more here:
Reforming the Immigration System: A Brief Outline - Cato Institute

The immigration crackdown hit families with force in the opening week of the Trump administration. After a travel ban was announced, thousands of people headed to DFW International Airports Terminal D, where loved ones from Muslim-majority and African countries were being held by immigration agents a scene repeated at airports around the U.S.

Tell me what democracy looks like, yelled an 11-year-old boy back in January 2017. The crowd of protesters answered in rhythm at the sudden travel ban that they considered draconian: This is what democracy looks like.

For four years, President Donald Trumps administration moved at every turn against legal and illegal immigration. Now, President-elect Joe Biden has promised that one of his first actions will be to immediately end the travel bans that hit majority-Muslim countries hard.

In the first 100 days, he plans to take on other immigration measures too, including restoring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, the program that allows about 600,000 undocumented Dreamers who came to the U.S. as children or young teens to remain in the U.S. legally. In the first year, Biden said this week, he will allow as many as 125,000 refugees into the country, up from the modern low of 15,000.

But many changes detailed on Bidens campaign website are couched with words such as review.

Under the Biden administration, were about to see the pace of immigration changes slow down significantly, predicts Andrew Selee, president of the D.C.-based Migration Policy Institute.

Some immigration experts are restrained about the scope of ultimate change especially while the nation is under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I dont have a lot of hope, said Alia Salem, a veteran Dallas organizer on immigration and Muslim issues. Immigration policy wasnt good under Obama either, she said, referring to the eight years when Biden was vice president to President Barack Obama. He deported a lot of people. [Obama] didnt preface it by saying we have to keep all the Muslims out. He was an equal opportunity deporter.

In El Paso, where many of Trumps most stringent measures were unreeled first, immigration advocate Marisa Limn gave a cold-eyed assessment. Limn applauds the possible repeal of the travel bans and full restoration of DACA. But her big fear is that other immigration measures may become a bargaining chip.

Her list includes ending the use of a public health law known as Title 42 to expel immigrants without immigration court hearings because of the pandemic and repairs to the immigration courts, which are backlogged with nearly 1.3 million cases.

I just want this administration to know that theres deep wisdom here, said Limn, who is deputy director of the Hope Border Institute. We know that the system is broken. We cannot just try to make detention camps, or a wall, more palatable.

Reconstruction of the immigration system for a nation whose origin story is all about immigration will be a difficult process. Among the barriers: Republicans who wont support legislation and Republican leaders who know how to go to court.

Not every change or reversal can be done by a stroke of the pen. Some will require going through a long regulatory process. The effort will be Herculean: The Trump administration made more than 400 changes to the immigration system.

Heres how those on the ground view key issues:

Refugee and asylum policies

Trump halted refugee admissions for four months in one of his opening executive orders. After inheriting an annual admissions cap of 110,000 from the Obama administration, he has allowed fewer people into the country each year, leading to the new low of about 15,000 even as the United Nations says there are a record 26 million refugees around the globe.

The issue is an important one in Texas, which over the last decade has led the nation in refugee resettlement. North Texas has been a top area to establish new roots. Before the Trump administration, about 1,025 refugees were resettled annually in Texas through the International Rescue Committee, for example. This past year, that number fell to about 300.

Rapid-fire changes to refugee and asylum policies have gummed up the system both in the U.S. and abroad, where refugees wait outside their countries.

Constantly being bombarded by continuous change has been the most challenging in the last four years, said Suzy Cop, Texas executive director of the IRC.

The global pipeline must be repaired, Cop said. A chain of expired security vettings and medical clearances must be rebuilt.

In the interim, Cop said, she worries most about those seeking refuge from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Syria, both racked by civil war.

Trumps initiatives included the controversial Remain in Mexico policy, more formally the Migrant Protection Protocols, which requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their U.S. cases to be heard. Nearly 68,000 asylum-seekers went through the program, and about 24,500 cases are pending.

Whereas asylum seekers in the past could await hearings or the outcome of their cases in the U.S. some detained, others out on their own Remain in Mexico led to the creation of a huge camp of desperate immigrants stuck in Matamoros, across the Rio Grande from Brownsville. Families were largely taken care of by nonprofits, which organized charity help including food, tents, latrines and medical care.

After the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, the charity care and visits by volunteers diminished. Summer flooding from storms brought in snakes, rats and mosquitoes. The camp became one of the most cinematic lessons on the perceived cruelty of Trumps policies, perhaps eclipsed only by the sight of children being separated en masse from their parents during an earlier, failed program.

Biden officials say the new administration will surge asylum officers to the border to handle Remain in Mexico cases. Migrants who do not qualify will have the opportunity to make their claim before an immigration judge, but if they are unable to satisfy the court, the government will help facilitate their successful reintegration into their home countries, reads a Biden statement.

At a journalists convention in August, Biden said the Remain in Mexico policy would get a careful and gradual exit. First, he would build an infrastructure that would include hiring enough lawyers and judges and bringing in grassroots organizations.

We have to make sure that we build up the infrastructure to be able to accommodate Trumps cruel and inhumane border policies ripping children from their mothers' arms and Trumps migrant Protection Protocols you know, Remain in Mexico program, Biden said. I mean, all of this is going to take time, not a long time, but its going to take, you have to be prepared, so we dont create another crisis.

Civil detention

Prison-like civil detention grew in the Trump years, even for people seeking asylum from persecution in their homelands. In 1995, about 7,500 people were in civil detention daily. At the peak last year, 55,000 were in a network of detention centers and county jails.

With the pandemic and calls for social distancing, the number of people detained fell to about 17,000 this month, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

That raises the question: Does the federal government need detention for so many who are accused only of the civil offense of being in the country without legal status?

Most of the detention network is run by private industry, from Florida-based Geo Group to Louisiana-based LaSalle Corrections, whose facilities include the Prairieland Detention Center about an hour southwest of Dallas.

Biden and his team said they would end the for-profit detention centers.

No business should profit from the suffering of desperate people fleeing violence, the Biden website says.

The Biden administration has also said it will end prolonged detention. It says proven alternatives to detention, along with nonprofit case management, can ensure that immigrants meet legal obligations.

For those seeking asylum, the Biden team has said it will ensure that facilities that temporarily house migrants seeking asylum are held to the highest standards of care and prioritize the safety and dignity of families above all.

But detention doesnt make sense to most asylum-seekers. One asylum-seeker from Cameroon was incarcerated as soon as he came into the Rio Grande Valley more than a year ago. He asked to be known by the initials C.A. because of his fear of retaliation by detention center guards and back home if he is deported.

Detention or prisons should be for people who have committed crimes, not for immigrants, C.A. said in a phone interview. We have not committed crimes. We have come into this country pleading for asylum.

Legal immigration

Many recent Central American asylum seekers say they come to the U.S. border for a mix of reasons, including violence and a lack of jobs in their homelands. In recent years, many of them havent qualified because of tight rules on the types of persecution that they must prove they have suffered.

Biden surprised many when he said he would send a comprehensive immigration bill to Congress within his first 100 days in office. The details are unclear especially about what would happen to the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. But many such initiatives have failed in a polarized Congress.

President George W. Bush, probably the most pro-immigrant Republican president in recent history, came to the office thinking that were going to get comprehensive immigration reform in six months, noted Muzaffar Chishti, a lawyer and senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. Then the 9/11 attacks happened, remaking the national conversation about immigration. Other comprehensive overhauls have failed since then.

The last big measure, in 2013, passed the Senate, clearing the way for millions of undocumented people to have a chance at a lengthy pathway to citizenship. In exchange, the proposal called for broad security measures at the border. It failed in the House.

The Trump administration has clamped down on the number of people who can come to the U.S. to work legally. Could more labor visas be given? That wouldnt be an easy move politically. The wobbly economy is likely to be hurt by a surge of COVID-19 cases in the months to come. That most likely means more struggling businesses and job losses. Offering work visas to foreigners while U.S. citizens are losing jobs would be a hard sell.

Nonetheless, some push for an increase in the number of labor and family-based visas. The Biden team has said it wants to reform the visa system for both lower and higher skilled jobs. Concerns Biden raised include how to pay fair and prevailing wages and how to ensure the right of all workers to join unions.

An easier path to visas would help some immigrants. But their advocates remain worried.

Tania Guerrero, a lawyer with the U.S.-based Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc., known as CLINIC, provides legal service to immigrants in northern states of Mexico, including in the Ciudad Jurez area. Guerrero said the reality of what is ahead is sobering.

The fact is that it was such a tight election, Guerrero said. The United States remains a very divided country. Trump lost, but Trumpism is alive and well, and the message is, while Im happy Biden won, we have to hold them accountable and do what weve always done: Defend the most vulnerable. Give them a voice.

One of the migrants she has counseled is Octavio, a Mexican from the central state of Michoacn who is desperate for any way out of his homeland, possibly through asylum. He asked that he be known only by his first name because of drug cartel violence he witnessed in his home state. He is now in Jurez with his wife and two children, weighing his chances of a life across the Rio Grande.

Octavio is encouraged by the Biden election. It gives me and my family some hope," he said. "But at this point, were so depressed, down, that anything is a sliver of hope.

Excerpt from:
Will a Biden administration really reverse the Trump administration crackdown on immigrants? - The Dallas Morning News

Andrea Castillo| Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES Before Tsegai fled Eritrea and made the monthslong journey to the United States to seek asylum, his image of this country was colored by what he'd seen on TV.

America, he thought, was the kind of place where people could be welcomed in with nothing and manage to turn their lives around.

But when the 30-year-old arrived last year on Christmas Day, officials cuffed his wrists and ankles and led him to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, where he spent eight months detained. Tsegai asked the Los Angeles Times to identify him only by his first name out of fear of persecution.

"I didn't expect it, so it was a very terrifying experience," he said through an interpreter.

A nonprofit paid Tsegai's $25,000 bond and on Sept. 8, he was released from the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility and moved into an Episcopal church two hours east of Los Angeles.

"Now that I am out of the ICE facility, I can see the true America that I had envisioned," he said. "There's so much kindness, there's so much good outside of the ICE facility."

Tsegai is one of a growing number of immigrants across the country finding temporary refuge in houses of worship rendered empty by the coronavirus pandemic, after being released from detention facilities.

It's the latest iteration of the sanctuary movement, which began in the 1980s as U.S. church leaders responded to the plight of Central Americans seeking political asylum during the civil wars that wracked the region.

With President Donald Trump's election and subsequent hardline enforcement of illegal immigration, congregations again have mobilized to shield those they felt deserved to stay. ICE has a long-standing policy of generally avoiding enforcement activities at "sensitive locations" including churches.

Prior to the 2020 election, the Trump administration said he would double down on immigration restrictions in a second term, limiting asylum grants, punishing sanctuary cities and expanding the so-called travel ban. Alternatively, former Vice President Joe Biden vowed to dismantle Trump's sweeping changes.

The most recent twist varies from traditional political sanctuary, in which some people remain on church property for months or years to avoid arrest by ICE. The COVID-19 pandemic has added urgency to offering shelter to immigrants.

More than 7,000 detainees have tested positive for the coronavirus across the country, according to ICE, and eight have died of COVID-19. With outbreaks infecting hundreds at some facilities, including 242 at Adelanto, immigrant advocates have mobilized to seek the release of as many as possible.

In response to federal lawsuits in California, judges have compelled the release of hundreds of immigrants at the state's five ICE facilities to permit space for social distancing, quarantine and isolation. In one scathing order last month, U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter accused federal officials of "straight up dishonesty" while directing ICE to reduce the population at Adelanto by more than one-third.

Other detainees have been released on bond pending the outcome of their cases in immigration court.

California isn't the only place where churches have stepped up. Congregations in states such as Texas, and the region including Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., are sheltering immigrants released from detention, said Myrna Orozco at Church World Service, which works with and tracks the sanctuary movement.

"The sanctuary movement definitely paved the way for congregations to be creative in how they offer welcome to folks," Orozco said. With detention centers still flaring up as COVID-19 hotspots, she said, "hopefully this will continue to increase as people are released."

Before they can be released from detention, immigrants must provide the address of a legal sponsor to federal officials. For many, it's the address of a relative or friend. But some, like Tsegai, arrive knowing no one.

In an organized resistance to Trump's policies, hundreds of people had once pledged to open their homes to immigrants being released from detention centers. But the pandemic has forced many families to tighten their social circles, cutting off a key source of transitional housing.

That leaves congregations such as Heritage United Methodist Church in South Los Angeles to fill the gap. Lead pastor the Rev. Ivan Sevillano said he understands intimately the plight of immigrants: He lived for 10 years without legal status after overstaying his visa from Peru.

Heritage, a historically Black church dating to the 1880s, has long served the surrounding homeless community, offering people Sunday breakfast, showers and the ability to park in the church lot. Its 15-member leadership board voted last summer to begin taking in immigrants released from detention centers.

"Though we don't open for services, always throughout the week we are doing something for someone," Sevillano said. "Many of us Christians preach but don't act. The important thing is also to act because there are people out there that need help."

On a sunny Thursday afternoon in the Heritage parking lot, Guillermo Torres, immigration program director at the nonprofit Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, led three women to his Subaru Outback. From the trunk, they pulled brooms, a mop and buckets with Pine Sol, bleach and Windex.

They set to work converting the church's dusty basement into a home for released detainees. The space, which includes a large community room with a piano and foosball table, an industrial kitchen and a classroom, hadn't been utilized in years.

A leak in the kitchen sink would need fixing and some of the countertop tiles were cracked and loose, but the microwave and blender worked and the cupboards were stocked with cookware, dishes and utensils. The classroom, which was piled with old chair desks, couches and sheet music, would soon be transformed into a bedroom with five beds and soft yellow walls.

Members of Nikkei Progressives, a Japanese American community organization, dropped off boxes of shirts, shoes and backpacks stuffed with toiletries.

Torres led them on a tour of the church and unfinished living space. CLUE has coordinated with six churches in the greater L.A. area willing to take in immigrants, he said. Others have offered help with donations, food and logistics.

Torres said the effort shows there are more humane alternatives to detention. It also paints faith communities in a positive light, he said, particularly during a time when some have been shown to dehumanize immigrants and other vulnerable populations.

"This shows the true meaning of religion," he said. "This gives a lifeline to people that otherwise would not have a lifeline."

With no foreseeable end to COVID-19, Torres expects more detainees to need housing as they are released from detention.

Back at the Episcopal church in San Bernardino County, Tsegai starts his mornings with a prayer. A Christian and an ethnic minority in Eritrea, he said he was falsely accused of criticizing the government. After surviving four years in prison labor camp, he escaped, leaving his mother and six children behind.

A different type of danger befell him in ICE custody. At the Adelanto facility, Tsegai and the other detaintees stayed glued to the TV, watching updates about the spread of COVID-19.

"I didn't think I'd get out of there alive," he said.

Tsegai's days are significantly quieter than before. He goes on long walks around the neighborhood. He cooks meals for himself cubed beef with berbere seasoning or in a spicy tomato sauce. He spends time talking to his children, who call frequently to ask when he's coming back.

He can't give them an answer. But for now, at least, he is savoring the new sense of freedom and safety, relishing the simplest pleasures. "I have a room of my own. I have plenty of food. I can move around."

See original here:
Churches shut down by coronavirus offer refuge to immigrants released from detention - Worcester Telegram

By Andrea Castillo| Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Before Tsegai fled Eritrea and made the months-long journey to the United States to seek asylum, his image of this country was colored by what he'd seen on TV.

America, he thought, was the kind of place where people could be welcomed in with nothing and manage to turn their lives around.

But when the 30-year-old arrived last year on Christmas Day, officials cuffed his wrists and ankles and led him to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, where he spent eight months detained. Tsegai asked the Los Angeles Times to identify him only by his first name out of fear of persecution.

"I didn't expect it, so it was a very terrifying experience," he said through an interpreter.

A nonprofit paid Tsegai's $25,000 bond and on Sept. 8, he was released from the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility and moved into an Episcopal church two hours east of Los Angeles.

"Now that I am out of the ICE facility, I can see the true America that I had envisioned," he said. "There's so much kindness, there's so much good outside of the ICE facility."

Tsegai is one of a growing number of immigrants across the country finding temporary refuge in houses of worship rendered empty by the coronavirus pandemic, after being released from detention facilities.

It's the latest iteration of the sanctuary movement, which began in the 1980s as U.S. church leaders responded to the plight of Central Americans seeking political asylum during the civil wars that wracked the region.

With President Donald Trump's election and subsequent hard-line enforcement of illegal immigration, congregations again have mobilized to shield those they felt deserved to stay. ICE has a long-standing policy of generally avoiding enforcement activities at "sensitive locations" including churches.

Prior to the 2020 election, the Trump administration said the presidentwould double down on immigration restrictions in a second term, limiting asylum grants, punishing sanctuary cities and expanding the so-called travel ban. Alternatively, former Vice President Joe Biden vowed to dismantle Trump's sweeping changes.

The most recent twist varies from traditional political sanctuary, in which some people remain on church property for months or years to avoid arrest by ICE. The COVID-19 pandemic has added urgency to offering shelter to immigrants.

More than 7,000 detainees have tested positive for the coronavirus across the country, according to ICE, and eight have died of COVID-19. With outbreaks infecting hundreds at some facilities, including 242 at Adelanto, immigrant advocates have mobilized to seek the release of as many as possible.

In response to federal lawsuits in California, judges have compelled the release of hundreds of immigrants at the state's five ICE facilities to permit space for social distancing, quarantine and isolation. In one scathing order last month, U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter accused federal officials of "straight up dishonesty" while directing ICE to reduce the population at Adelanto by more than one-third.

Other detainees have been released on bond pending the outcome of their cases in immigration court.

California isn't the only place where churches have stepped up. Congregations in states such as Texas, and the region including Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., are sheltering immigrants released from detention, said Myrna Orozco at Church World Service, which works with and tracks the sanctuary movement.

"The sanctuary movement definitely paved the way for congregations to be creative in how they offer welcome to folks," Orozco said. With detention centers still flaring up as COVID-19 hotspots, she said, "hopefully this will continue to increase as people are released."

Before they can be released from detention, immigrants must provide the address of a legal sponsor to federal officials. For many, it's the address of a relative or friend. But some, like Tsegai, arrive knowing no one.

In an organized resistance to Trump's policies, hundreds of people had once pledged to open their homes to immigrants being released from detention centers. But the pandemic has forced many families to tighten their social circles, cutting off a key source of transitional housing.

That leaves congregations such as Heritage United Methodist Church in South Los Angeles to fill the gap. Lead pastor the Rev. Ivan Sevillano said he understands intimately the plight of immigrants: He lived for 10 years without legal status after overstaying his visa from Peru.

Heritage, a historically Black church dating to the 1880s, has long served the surrounding homeless community, offering people Sunday breakfast, showers and the ability to park in the church lot. Its 15-member leadership board voted last summer to begin taking in immigrants released from detention centers.

"Though we don't open for services, always throughout the week we are doing something for someone," Sevillano said. "Many of us Christians preach but don't act. The important thing is also to act because there are people out there that need help."

On a sunny Thursday afternoon in the Heritage parking lot, Guillermo Torres, immigration program director at the nonprofit Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, led three women to his Subaru Outback. From the trunk, they pulled brooms, a mop and buckets with Pine Sol, bleach and Windex.

They set to work converting the church's dusty basement into a home for released detainees. The space, which includes a large community room with a piano and foosball table, an industrial kitchen and a classroom, hadn't been utilized in years.

A leak in the kitchen sink would need fixing and some of the countertop tiles were cracked and loose, but the microwave and blender worked and the cupboards were stocked with cookware, dishes and utensils. The classroom, which was piled with old chair desks, couches and sheet music, would soon be transformed into a bedroom with five beds and soft yellow walls.

Members of Nikkei Progressives, a Japanese American community organization, dropped off boxes of shirts, shoes and backpacks stuffed with toiletries.

Torres led them on a tour of the church and unfinished living space. CLUE has coordinated with six churches in the greater L.A. area willing to take in immigrants, he said. Others have offered help with donations, food and logistics.

Torres said the effort shows there are more humane alternatives to detention. It also paints faith communities in a positive light, he said, particularly during a time when some have been shown to dehumanize immigrants and other vulnerable populations.

"This shows the true meaning of religion," he said. "This gives a lifeline to people that otherwise would not have a lifeline."

With no foreseeable end to COVID-19, Torres expects more detainees to need housing as they are released from detention.

Back at the Episcopal church in San Bernardino County, Tsegai starts his mornings with a prayer. A Christian and an ethnic minority in Eritrea, he said he was falsely accused of criticizing the government. After surviving four years in prison labor camp, he escaped, leaving his mother and six children behind.

A different type of danger befell him in ICE custody. At the Adelanto facility, Tsegai and the other detainees stayed glued to the TV, watching updates about the spread of COVID-19.

"I didn't think I'd get out of there alive," he said.

Tsegai's days are significantly quieter than before. He goes on long walks around the neighborhood. He cooks meals for himself cubed beef with berbere seasoning or in a spicy tomato sauce. He spends time talking to his children, who call frequently to ask when he's coming back.

He can't give them an answer. But for now, at least, he is savoring the new sense of freedom and safety, relishing the simplest pleasures. "I have a room of my own. I have plenty of food. I can move around."

Interpreter Zion Yohannes contributed to this report.

Go here to see the original:
Churches shut down by COVID offer refuge to immigrants released from detention - VVdailypress.com