On Tuesday, US president Joe Biden ordered a review of asylum processing at the US-Mexico border and the immigration system, as he seeks to undo some of former president Donald Trump’s policies.
Mr Biden also created a task force to reunite migrant families who were separated at the border by Trump’s 2018 “zero tolerance” strategy.
“We are going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally, not figuratively, ripped children from the arms of their families,” Mr Biden said, as he signed the three immigration-related executive orders at the White House.
The executive orders called for an array of reviews and reports that could trigger policy changes in the weeks and months ahead, but provide limited immediate relief to immigrants barred by Trump-era rules.
Immigration advocates have urged the new Democratic administration to quickly undo Mr Trump’s policies but Mr Biden aides say they need time to unravel the many layers of immigration restrictions and to put in place more migrant-friendly systems.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
The cautious strategy reflects the tightrope Mr Biden is walking to reverse hardline policies while simultaneously trying to prevent a surge in illegal immigration. The president’s opponents could also derail or slow down his agenda with lawsuits if his administration moves too quickly and fails to follow proper procedures.
In a sign of the wary approach, Mr Biden’s executive orders on Tuesday did not repeal an order known as Title 42, which was issued under Mr Trump to stop the spread of the coronavirus and allows US authorities to expel almost all people caught crossing the border illegally.
He did, however, mandate a review of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) that ordered 65,000 asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their US court hearings.
The Biden administration has stopped adding people to the programme but has not yet outlined how it will process the claims of those already in it.
Across the border in Mexico, migrants enrolled in MPP said they were anxious for news about Mr Biden’s plans for the programme.
Change in tone
The tone of Mr Biden’s orders differed dramatically from the former president’s incendiary immigration rhetoric depicting asylum seekers as a security threat or an economic drain on the United States.
“Securing our borders does not require us to ignore the humanity of those who seek to cross them,” reads the order dealing with asylum.
But opposition from Republicans continues and lawsuits by conservative groups could potentially slow down Mr Biden’s agenda. A federal judge last week temporarily blocked one of his first immigration moves – a 100-day pause on many deportations – after the Republican-led state of Texas sought an injunction.
The president pledged in his 2020 election campaign to move quickly to reunite parents and children separated at the southern border and the task force set up on Tuesday is aimed at fulfilling that promise.
However, it will face a daunting challenge in trying to track down the parents of more than 600 children who remain separated, according to a January court filing in a related case. The children are living with relatives or in foster care, an attorney representing plaintiffs in the litigation told Reuters.
The president’s executive orders also called for a review of Mr Trump’s so-called “public charge” rule, which makes it harder for poorer immigrants to obtain permanent residency in the US.
The review is expected to start the process to rescind it, according to two people familiar with the plan.
Mr Biden’s asylum-focused order called on US agencies to address drivers of migration in Central America, expand legal pathways to the United States and consider ending Trump-era asylum pacts with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. – Reuters