President
2023 will likely see more attempted border crossings, burdening an already overwhelmed enforcement system — and with the president’s migration policies facing added legal uncertainty.
The president said he
But the court’s decision to keep Title 42 in place while litigation proceeds may just delay the inevitable. The policy is a public-health measure being used to curb migration, and experts expect it will eventually be lifted. In the meantime, thousands of migrants have gathered in Mexico waiting for it to drop, complicating the border situation.
In October and November, authorities made more than 200,000 migrant apprehensions at the US-Mexico border each month, according to government data. Those are larger numbers than the corresponding months in fiscal 2022, which saw a record of more than 2.2 million encounters.
Biden had sought to end the restrictions, arguing Title 42 is ineffective in deterring crossings and only congressional action can repair the system. Without significant funding and changes to US law, officials and immigration advocates say problems — including an overtaxed Border Patrol, slow visa processing and labor shortages — will persist.
But end-of-year congressional talks on an immigration proposal collapsed, the latest failure to modernize laws unchanged for more than 30 years, and Republicans, who will take control of the House in January, plan to use immigration as a political battering ram ahead of the 2024 election.
House Republican leader
“For better or for worse, in the eyes of the American public, presidents are judged by what happens at the border,” said Theresa Cardinal Brown, managing director of immigration and cross-border policy at the
‘Major Disappointment’
Despite the Republican opposition to Biden’s plans, some activists and allies say the president and Democrats have not put enough political capital behind immigration, compared to measures on infrastructure, climate and health care that became law.
“We haven’t seen the same sort of attention and prioritization when it comes to achieving legislative progress on the immigration front, and that’s been a major disappointment in the last few years,” said Jorge Loweree, managing director of programs and strategy at the
Biden rarely spoke about immigration on the stump in 2022, and his senior staff doesn’t include an adviser whose primary focus is immigration policy. Biden did send an ambitious immigration overhaul to Congress shortly after taking office, but it stalled after passing the House. Democrats also failed to secure immigration provisions in a budget reconciliation package.
“If Democrats were to lean-in and talk about their strategy and be highly aggressive on Republican accountability and extremism, it will help present a contrast for voters,” said Tyler Moran, a former senior Biden adviser on migration. “If Democrats are silent, Republicans are able to fill the void and define the issue.”
White House Press Secretary
“Today’s order gives Republicans in Congress plenty of time to move past political finger-pointing and join their Democratic colleagues in solving the challenge at our border by passing the comprehensive reform measures and delivering the additional funds for border security that President Biden has requested,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
Congress provided US Customs and Border Protection with $16.4 billion in its year-end funding bill, an increase from last fiscal year, including $1.6 billion to address higher numbers of migrant encounters at the border. The measure also funds 300 additional Border Patrol agents.
But that is significantly less than the $3.5 billion the White House requested to address the situation at the border.
Gridlock in Congress
Before the court’s ruling, El Paso, Texas Mayor
The migrants could be waiting months for Title 42’s fate to be decided. The justices plan to hear arguments in late February or early March on Republican states’ bid to intervene in defense of the policy, with a decision possibly weeks or months later.
The
But immigrant-rights advocates say the rapid expulsions make the situation worse, encouraging repeat crossings — all while denying migrants their legal right to seek asylum.
Despite those concerns, immigration watchers are pessimistic about the prospects for congressional action
“The question is: Can there be a congressional legislation next year in the 118th Congress on immigration? And the answer is no,” said
Arizona Independent Senator
Congressional inaction could bring more pressure from liberal allies for Biden to take executive action.
New Mexico Democratic Senator
Yet he said Biden “can and must” put forth executive actions to protect immigrant families.
The last major push to overhaul immigration occurred in 2013 when the Senate approved a citizenship path for undocumented immigrants already in the US, while bolstering border security and visa requirements. The bill, however, never received a vote in the Republican-controlled House.
GOP opposition to such a deal only hardened under Trump.
“To simplistically say that this is happening because of Biden is just ridiculous,” said Moran.
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