Transitioning from campaign mode to governance mode may be causing some in the Biden camp to suddenly get a case of cold feet where immigration is concerned. We’re seeing reports today that some of the matters Biden had promised to address via executive order early on in his term may be delayed. What’s more, Andrew Arthur of the Center for Immigration Studies points out that a detailed Fact Sheet explaining the new administration’s immigration plans has suddenly gone missing from the WH website. Couple those items with Biden’s first defeat at the hands of the federal courts (see “Biden’s Plan for a Deportation Moratorium Hits a Texas Roadblock“) and it appears that reversing Trump’s overhaul of immigration policies may not be as quick and clean as promised on the campaign trail.
For that reason, Nayla Rush of CIS.org is speculating:
The Biden team knows that its immigration proposals could trigger a crisis at the border, with thousands of migrants from Central America rushing to claim asylum in the United States. To avoid embarrassing images of such a crisis, I expect the administration to open the “back door” to this country by reviving and reinforcing programs that bring Central Americans here directly, away from the gaze of the media.
The two programs Rush refers to are:
- Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee/Parole program, launched by the Obama administration in 2014, expanded in 2016, and terminated by Trump in 2018. This program provided that minors (and, after expansion, adults) in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras could be considered–in their home country–for refugee resettlement in the United States. Individuals found ineligible for refugee status could still be considered for the possibility of entering the United States under parole.
- Protection Transfer Arrangement (PTA). Provides residents of the countries above to be considered for refugee resettlement in the U.S. from Costa Rica.
Dr. Rush explains how the programs might be re-instated and revised:
Many eligibility conditions could be lifted for CAM applicants, such as legal presence for relatives in the United States, proof of kinship, DNA testing, background checks, medical clearance, costs, etc. PTA resettlement spots could be expanded and funding increased. Both programs should be running full speed in the coming months as they provide convenient (and low-profile) back-door entry to Central Americans wishing to come here and a safe alternative to risky crossings of the border. They give the new Biden administration the tools to admit increasing numbers of Central American minors and adults behind the scenes, without having to deal with disturbing and politically inconvenient images from a border crisis.
Thus, a “back door” entrance to enable would-be asylum seekers to enter the U.S. as bona fide refugees. All the “benefits” of mass immigration without the troublesome optics.
For more, see CIS.org.