Ted Hesson

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – Two top U.S. immigration advisers outlined ambitious plans just days after President Joe Biden assumed office in January 2021. These included a significant immigration reform bill, a deportation moratorium of 100 days, and a plan to restore protections for those seeking asylum that were weakened under President Donald Trump.

One year later, those goals remain unfulfilled after Biden officials spent much of his first year in office grappling with record-breaking border arrests, unfavorable court decisions on immigration, Republican opposition in Congress and internal divisions https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-children-insight-idCAKBN2C21FH between liberals and moderates within his own administration.

According to Reuters, Tyler Moran, a White House official, and Esther Olavarria are now preparing for departure. Each of them worked previously for advocacy groups in immigration and highlighted Biden’s departure from Trump policies.

These departures form part of an overall exodus among senior Biden immigration officials that suggest planned reforms might be put on hold, or even abandoned entirely as power tips to security-minded White House officials. Susan Rice, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council has been pushing for stricter enforcement at border.

A White House spokesperson contested reports of internal divisions, saying that “everyone in this administration from the president on down is committed to building  a fair, humane and lawful immigration system and bringing it into the 21st century.”

During Biden’s first year as president, U.S. immigration officers faced one of the largest illegal border crossings in 20 years. According to former and current officials, border arrests could exceed last year’s 1.7million.

Another chaotic year at the border could provide ammunition to Republicans, who are expected to focus on immigration https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republicans-see-election-opportunity-biden-border-struggles-2021-12-21, an issue that strongly animates their supporters according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, in the run-up to November congressional elections.

Despite the fact that many people are speaking out about their departure from the White House, others who have spoken to Reuters expressed frustration with Biden’s decision to continue some of Trump’s controversial policies.

Two people who are familiar with the situation say that Lise Clvel, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s chief of staff, will succeed Moran.

Clavel was one the Biden’s top officials charged with responding to the surge in unaccompanied kids crossing into Mexico in March 2021. However, Clavel has less connection than Moran or Olavarria.

It is not clear if the White House has appointed Olavarria as its replacement.

REBUILDING

Alejandro Mayorkas from Homeland Security spoke to Reuters about the administration’s immigrant record.

He stated that “In the first year, our focus has been on rebuilding an immigrant system which was virtually destroyed by the previous administration.” We had to end cruel policies and bring back offices, create new policies and rebuild whole operations.

Mayorkas cited accomplishments beyond the U.S./Mexico border. He called for a “profound shift in the way federal immigration officers prioritise who they should arrest inside the United States.”

He said that “we are not targeting noncitizens, who have been contributing members to our communities for years” and added that security threats and new arrivals now matter.

Mayorkas said to Reuters he intended to issue a memorandum which would also reform immigration detention policies, without giving details or a schedule.

According to the homeland security secretary, the “extraordinary achievement” of the United States’ efforts to resettle approximately 80,000 Afghans since August when the U.S. military pulled out from Afghanistan was described as an “extraordinary feat”.

Biden was unable to change major Trump-era policies at America’s southwestern border. These allowed border crossingers to return to Mexico, as well as families with asylum seekers.

Heidi Altman is the policy director of the National Immigrant Justice Center. This center provides legal assistance to asylum seekers and refugees.

Some U.S. officials considered the Biden government’s decision in September to remove thousands of Haitians from their asylum, who had set up camps under a Del Rio bridge, Texas in September, an endorsement of Trump’s hardline approach.

About 14,000 Haitians arrived just weeks after the Biden administration had finished a chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan and close to 8,000 were expelled https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-immigration-border-idUKKBN2GD1SL under the Title 42 health policy in the weeks that followed.

One State Department official, who asked anonymity for internal operations to talk about their operation said that decisions were partly made because of optics. I think the White House felt that they could not afford another problem on which to focus their attention.