Latino

Hispanic Caucus urges new direction in immigration talks

by Rafael Bernal - 01/30/24 10:51 AM ET

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is releasing its immigration principles, a wishlist of migrant- and economic-focused policy proposals amid a hawkish, bipartisan lunge toward border security and exclusion.

The CHC’s Tuesday proposals also come as the group has been purposefully excluded from Senate negotiations on border policy, which reportedly have centered on ways to curtail asylum and further fortify the border without addressing calls to overhaul the legal immigration system and appeals to give longtime undocumented immigrants a path to apply for legal status.

But the CHC is zigging while the political world is zagging, sticking to its traditional proposals to protect Dreamers, beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and farmworkers; provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants; fund family reunification programs; speed up work permits for newly arrived migrants and fund shelter space; and a host of other improvements to the way the federal government processes and protects immigrants.

“These principles highlight the CHC’s steadfast resolve to enact effective and humane comprehensive immigration policies that address the root causes of migration while treating immigrants with the dignity and compassion expected from America on the world stage,” said CHC Chair Rep. Nanette Díaz Barragán (D-Calif.).

The group’s stance reflects its history at the center of congressional action and immigration, where Democrats have traditionally looked to the CHC for policy input from members who either represent large constituencies with lived experience in the U.S. immigration system or who have that experience firsthand.

“To whom much is given, much is required. As leaders of the CHC, we understand the breadth of what is at stake for the immigrant families seeking asylum here in America,” said CHC immigration task force co-chair Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.).

Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) is seen during a press conference on Friday, August 12, 2022 to discuss the Inflation Reduction Act. (Greg Nash)

Yet the group has been excluded from border policy talks, which have morphed into a proxy battle for the Trump and Biden 2024 campaigns, as voters have turned to immigration as the top electoral issue.

President Biden, who in 2020 was elected on a platform that directly contradicted then-President Trump’s harangues against migrants and border crossings, has pivoted to a new, tougher message that implicitly accepts the perception of the U.S.-Mexico border as a threat.

In a statement Friday and again at a campaign event in South Carolina on Saturday, Biden said that with the bipartisan Senate deal in hand, he would “shut down” the border immediately.

That pledge likely refers to expelling asylum-seekers, rather than screening them for asylum, after a certain number of daily or monthly encounters — essentially, setting a cap on asylum.

The White House did not return a request for comment on this story.

The staggering backlog of asylum and other immigration applications has overwhelmed not only border authorities in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Border Patrol, but also immigration courts and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that processes immigration status and naturalizations.

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The Senate deal’s approach to addressing that backlog — now endorsed by Biden and Senate Democratic leadership — follows policies set in place during the Trump administration.

In essence, that approach views asylum rights as the problem and creates avenues for U.S. officials to return migrants to Mexico or their countries of origin without processing asylum claims.

The CHC’s approach — traditionally the Democratic vision — sees the problem as a lack of U.S. capacity to apply existing asylum laws to a larger population of migrants.

In its wishlist, the CHC includes greater funding for immigration courts to process the more than 2 million cases and a guarantee of legal counsel for immigrants facing deportation proceedings.

The CHC also asks to consider guaranteeing legal counsel for asylum-seekers awaiting their credible fear interviews — the first step in the asylum process — or who have been released from federal custody.

“Our broken immigration system has long been inconsistent with our American values and interests,” said CHC immigration task force co-chair Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), adding the CHC’s proposed reforms “would restore compassion and order to our immigration system.”

“These principles reflect the CHC’s longstanding work on behalf of immigrant communities, and we will continue to fight for fair and humane immigration policies.”

Yet the CHC, which has received regular updates on the negotiation process, has not fully broken with the Biden administration or Democratic congressional leadership on the issue.

“The CHC will continue to work with the Biden administration, congressional leadership, and state and local leaders, to advance necessary reform efforts that will strengthen our nation’s border security and ensure an equitable and accessible immigration system for all,” said Barragán.

That show of party discipline is a recognition that many Democrats see the reported outlines of the Senate deal as a realistic solution to the border’s disarray, and a political gut punch against Trump, who’s come out forcefully against any deal.

Policy arguments have all but disappeared from the debate, especially after GOP senators openly admitted they opposed the deal because they believed it could help improve conditions at the border, potentially blunting Trump’s sharpest attack against Biden.

Immigration advocates and CHC members have said the Trumpist approach to replace asylum with cursory expulsions was shown to be an ineffective policy, among other things because it increased recidivism — migrants who reattempted crossings after being expelled to Mexico.

But political sentiment has turned against asylum as images of migrants crossing the border or crowding big-city shelters have dominated the news.

CHC officials say their proposals — whether establishing a new humanitarian visa or renewing a statute of limitations-like authority for longtime undocumented migrants to regularize their papers — look inwards, focusing on ways to remove the chaos without removing the people.

“The CHC is making clear our support of immigrants and reaffirming our actions to ensure our nation remains a beacon of hope and freedom for families now and future generations,” said Espaillat, who immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic as a child.

Tags Adriano Espaillat Nanette Diaz Barragán