President Biden's Immigration Problem

The question of immigration, which contains a wide variety of issues ranging from the ethics (or lack thereof) of migrant “detention facilities” to the optimal number of migrants legally allowed into the United States, has divided U.S. political parties and leaders alike for most of the nation’s history. The various issues encompassed by this question of immigration would play a significant role in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, in which the current President of the U.S., Joe Biden, vowed to rescind the damaging changes to U.S. immigration policies enacted by Donald J. Trump. Despite these promises, however, the Biden administration has reopened “detention facilities” near the U.S.-Mexico border and facilitated the deportation of hundreds of immigrants who entered the country illegally. These contradictions embodied and practiced by both President Biden and his administration call for both an exploration of the government that Biden inherited and critical questioning of how Biden can fulfill his as of yet failed promises. 

Throughout his one-term presidency, former U.S. President Donald J. Trump implemented numerous changes to the immigration policies left by the Obama administration. When these changes are brought up in conversation, individuals tend to invoke the imagery of “kids in cages” and Trump’s notorious (and unfinished) “Great Wall.” While these issues, along with Trump’s infamously hateful rhetoric, are certainly worthy of our attention and outrage, the solitary attention we afford to issues of migrant detention and border security inhibits our ability to understand how Trump’s policies have harmed—if not severely crippled—the overarching immigration system in the United States.

While many scholars disagree over the specific numbers, it is estimated that the Trump administration implemented 400 changes to U.S. immigration policy throughout the four years Trump was in office. Some of these changes received an overwhelming amount of attention from the American public, such as the historically low ceilings the Trump administration put on the number of immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers legally admitted into the country (which curtailed the flow of immigration into the U.S. by 50%). Other changes that similarly damaged the U.S. immigration system, however, were passed with relatively minimal public scrutiny. These quiet, oft-unnoticed shifts in immigration policy, such as Trump’s numerous adjustments to the U.S. Visa system, have been referred to as “regulatory dark matter” by political scholars—namely, Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.. Unlike the more well-known changes to immigration policy enacted by the Trump administration, these transformations are oftentimes executed without announcement. As a result, they do not receive the same level of scrutiny—and are not held to the same level of public accountability—as some of the former administration’s official immigration guidelines.

I highlight these subtle, yet destructive, immigration policies created by the Trump administration to bring attention to the greater situation Biden has inherited. While Biden can (and has) effectively work against the notorious travel bans and immigration ceilings that Trump fostered, it will take many years—perhaps more than Biden will serve as President of the U.S.—to holistically nullify the harm Trump has unleashed upon the overarching U.S. immigration system. Despite his quick efforts to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and his proposal for an eight-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, Biden—and his administration—has much work in his future to combat the xenophobic policies imposed by his predecessor.

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the fact that Biden himself has perpetuated harm against immigrants both inside and outside the United States, given both his decision to reopen the child “detention facility” in Texas and his failure to properly execute his moratorium on U.S. deportations. Both the current and former Presidents of the United State have inflicted harm upon immigrant communities, and yet Biden does not struggle against the same levels of lash back and critique that Trump faced throughout his presidency. The outrage that many individuals expressed towards Trump’s harmful practices has now dulled into a firm sense of complacency. In order to truly support and stand for immigrants and refugees, who make up some of the most vulnerable groups in our society, we must remain vocal—and maintain our outrage—against the egregious actions committed by the Biden administration and continue to uplift the voices and stories of those directly experiencing the consequences of these actions.