Biden shows USA’S kinder face to migrants
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Recent weeks have seen a surge in the number of unaccompanied minor children seeking refuge at the Us-mexico border, presenting the United States government with a unique and difficult set of challenges, first among them being how to grant so many of these children safe harbor, while doing so in a manner that respects their rights as refugees and fellow human beings.
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The heavy-handed and often cruel approach of the Trump years fostered no such ethical dilemma, given that an administration that publicly delighted in tearing crying children from the arms of their terrified mothers was unlikely to lose a minute’s sleep over how crowded the conditions were in holding facilities where the minors were kept pending placement with family members.
But all of that changed when Joe Biden was sworn in as president earlier this year. Even Biden’s political opponents over the years generally agree that, above all else, Biden is a decent man with empathy for others, and this strength of character has been borne out in his treatment of migrants and refugees, particularly children. No longer are unaccompanied minors being forced back into Mexico, where they had to exist in dangerous and unsanitary conditions. Instead they are being admitted to the United States, but the sheer number of desperate youth has overwhelmed a system that already had limited capacity, all of which contributed to the distressing images of children sleeping under foil blankets with no safe distance between them.
However, unlike the situation during the previous administration, these conditions are far more temporary, and a herculean effort is being undertaken to place children with family members as quickly as possible. One of the Biden administration’s first policy changes was to remove the threat of arrest and deportation faced by potential host families under Trump. Family members are no longer being screened for residency status as a condition of taking in the migrant children, which should soon begin to alleviate congestion in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) holding facilities.
While no one likes to see kids detained, immigrant advocacy groups such as the National Immigration
Law Center (NILC) are praising the Biden administration for appointing people to key positions who can help bring about badly needed change in our broken immigration system.
“The Biden administration continues to signal its commitment not only to undoing the harms of the last administration, but also to bringing to fruition a 21st century immigration system that is rooted in fairness and that honors the dignity and contributions of the millions of immigrants who call this country home,” NILC Executive Director Marielena Hincapié said after Biden named NILC’S former deputy director Kamal Essaheb as counselor to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
It is true that immigration reform bills recently passed in the US House of Representatives face an uphill battle in the Senate, but the fact that the United States is now showing a kinder, more human face to those who look to this country for refuge is being seen as a critical first step in restoring faith to those who were shunned and vilified during the previous four years. (La Semana)