Articles

Migration maelstrom puts Biden in a political vise

Politico / Sabrina Rodriguez / September 21, 2021

"The administration and Congress have to come together to offer a clear strategy for how to deal with what is a new reality in the region being driven in the short term by COVID and climate change, and laws which never really contemplated what we are seeing now," said Simon Rosenberg, a long-time Democratic operative and founder of the liberal think tank NDN who has followed immigration closely for decades. "A new approach is needed."

Meanwhile, Republicans have been hammering Biden and his party for months over what they call the "Biden border crisis." They argue that the White House has embraced an "open border" policy, despite the administration's use of a Trump-era public health order — known as Title 42 — to kick out migrants arriving at the border without allowing them to seek asylum.

A group of 26 Republican governors, led by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, on Monday urged Biden "to take action to protect America, restore security, and end the crisis now."

It's not so simple. An uptick in the number of migrants coming from countries beyond Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico show a larger regional challenge for the Biden administration, one that suggests no quick end to the increased number of migrants. In 2021, there has been an increased number of migrants arriving from Ecuador, Brazil, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba — countries experiencing a high death toll from the pandemic, economic fallout and political turmoil, with no end in sight.

But a major rethinking of U.S. immigration policy and work to help the region won't happen overnight and could take years. And it's all the more complicated by partisan gridlock in Washington.

"This starts way before the border," Wilson said. "I'm hoping this will shine a bright light, give us a new perspective on what we need to do... to help countries struggling."