President Biden is set to sign executive orders Tuesday to roll back Trump policies on asylum-seekers and refugees, creating a task force to reunify families who were separated at the border and beginning a broad review of rules limiting asylum.
“President Biden’s strategy is centered on the basic premise that our country is safer, stronger, and more prosperous with a fair, safe and orderly immigration system that welcomes immigrants, keeps families together, and allows people—both newly arrived immigrants and people who have lived here for generations—to more fully contribute to our country,” the White House said in a statement.
Former President Donald Trump spent four years putting the policies into place in an effort to deter migrant families from Central America from traveling to the border, where federal law enforcement does not have a way to detain thousands of people. Biden is asking his administration to look at ways to make it easier for migrants seeking admission while improving conditions in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras so that fewer people seek to leave.
Separated families to be reunited
The Biden administration will create a family reunification task force that will help the more than 600 children who were separated from their parents by U.S. officials carrying out Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy. More than 5,400 children were taken from their parents as part of a federal effort to refer for prosecution all adults who illegally crossed the border in 2017 and 2018. A federal judge ruled in 2018 that families be reunified, but the government said it could not find the adults who came with 600 of the children.
The task force will work across the U.S. government and with nongovernment organizations to make recommendations to Biden and federal agencies about how to reunify families. It will also make recommendations to top administration officials on how to avoid this happening again and revokes Trump’s order justifying the move.
Develop strategy to deal with migration from Central America
The Biden administration will commence a three-prong plan that starts by addressing the reasons that more than 1 million Central Americans have fled to the southern border over the past five years. Its strategy focuses on confronting instability, violence, and economic insecurity — the primary causes that so many flee. Second, the U.S. government will work with government agencies and international organizations to find ways to relocate people seeking help “closer to home.”
Finally, acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske will review the Migrant Protection Protocols, a Trump-era initiative that forced all asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico for months so as not to allow people into the United States while claims made their way through the legal system.
“The situation at the border will not transform overnight, due in large part to the damage done over the last four years,” the White House said. “But the president is committed to an approach that keeps our country safe, strong, and prosperous and that also aligns with our values.”
The program was implemented in January 2019, and since then, 67,000 people have been enrolled. Migrants who presented themselves to federal law enforcement officers at border crossings and who were arrested for illegally crossing the border are both returned to Mexico if they seek asylum during the process.
The program was rolled out as a growing number of migrant families were arriving at the southern border and is meant to “meter” how many people could apply for asylum at ports of entry per day. Amid the surge of people, the government could not hear and decide claims in the 20-day limit that it is allowed to detain families in immigration custody, forcing them to release people into the U.S.
Establish task force to help immigrants
Biden is giving the White House a bigger role in overseeing the government’s strategy for promoting the inclusion and integration of immigrants, including by creating the Task Force on New Americans. Federal agencies at DHS, the Justice Department, and Health and Human Services will be required to carry out a full review of policies, guidance, and regulations put into effect by Trump.
Public charge
DHS will look at rolling back Trump’s expansion of the public charge rule, which imposed a wealth test on prospective immigrants. “Public charge” is a century-old U.S. legal term for noncitizens who have received long-term financial or other assistance. DHS issued a rule in August 2019 that outlined new categories of immigrants it would bar from entry and deny visa renewals due to their reliance on U.S. government benefits, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as food stamps.
The rule meant immigrants applying for legal permanent residency, a step before applying for citizenship, would be judged based on additional types of assistance they have accepted from the federal government for at least 12 months in any 36-month period. The rule was expected to affect hundreds of thousands of applicants. Biden rescinded Trump’s memo that required family sponsors to repay the government for relatives who have received public benefits.
