If History is Any Guide, the Biden Administration Will Be No Friend to Immigrants
Many people rightfully look to the end of the Trump administration as the answer to our collective prayers for a kinder, more decent America. We do not look to Joe Biden for greatness, we do not expect him to make history, but we do expect him to make small, gradual progress on issues as diverse as abortion rights, racial justice and health care access. We hope that he will again put us on the path to climate mitigation. We expect him to make some good Supreme Court picks. One thing we should absolutely not expect is any meaningful progress on immigrant rights.
Don’t expect the Democrats to be leaders on immigrant rights
Today, the Washington Post published an article on how excited Democrats are over plans for a “virtual border wall.” The Democratic Party writ large is simply thrilled to bits about heat-seeking technology and artificial intelligence to spot border-crossers in the desert, enabling ICE to swoop down and snag them, like something out of the Hunger Games. This high-tech system, many Democrats believe, will be far more efficient and cost-effective than Trump’s border wall.
The amazing thing about this “hard-hat-bro versus tech-bro” debate is not that the Democratic Party is embracing a new level of surveillance technology or yet another costly, tech-bro boondoggle, though these facts are enough to make one go “hmmm?”… The really shocking part of this story is to be reminded once again of how much Republicans and Democrats agree that immigration is Bad. Even in the middle of a global pandemic and historic Depression, both parties still rush to see who can waste the most money on preventing workers from getting to their jobs.
Will Biden Save DACA?
Most immigrant rights’ advocates are so beaten down from the almost total lack of support from any politician, even Bernie Sanders, that it’s hard to remember that immigration reform should be a no-brainer for Biden. If the Democratic Party believes in young people, hard work, the economy, racial justice and equality of opportunity, what could be easier than pushing through a permanent solution for immigrants, particularly young immigrants? Doesn’t everyone agree that the children are our future? Well…I will not be holding my breath for a grand bargain.
Somehow, immigrant rights always seem to fall to the bottom of Congress’s list, even though immigration reform should be bipartisan. The Republicans claim to love the economy and Democrats claim to love workers, yet somehow, to even suggest that immigration reform should be at the top of the agenda is always treated as suspicious by both moderates and progressives. When Julian Castro suggested that we stop putting people in jail for doing something that millions of Americans do all the time (traveling from a poor area with few jobs to a wealthy area with many jobs), both progressive and moderate Democrats rushed to distance themselves from him. When Democrats were asked if they support “Abolish ICE,” they are quick to say that they want to replace ICE with something better. As though no Democrat living today could imagine a future where we no longer have an agency that was created in 2001 by the Bush administration.
The Best We Can Hope For Is Less Fascism
It’s really sad that for many immigrants, a Democratic administration means merely the chance to expect a little less fascism. Maybe fewer people will be arrested and deported for helping the US economy. Maybe young children won’t be put in jail. Maybe immigrants will be able to get a driver’s license like everyone else. Maybe ICE will be replaced by another agency with a slightly different acronym. And maybe instead of a giant, F-you wall, workers coming to the US will face a futuristic obstacle course of heat-seeking sensors and other dystopian infrastructure out of the Hunger Games, all designed to keep people from getting to their jobs during the most important economic recovery in a generation.
