{"id":62337,"date":"2024-01-30T19:07:01","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T03:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=62337"},"modified":"2024-01-30T19:07:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T03:07:01","slug":"in-immigration-debate-a-fight-over-who-gets-to-be-an-american","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=62337","title":{"rendered":"In Immigration Debate, a \u2018Fight Over Who Gets to be an American\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_author tdi_54 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_54\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-author-name-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-author-by\">By<\/span><a class=\"tdb-author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/author\/selen-ozturk\/\">Selen Ozturk<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_date tdi_55 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_55\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><i class=\"tdb-date-icon tdc-font-fa tdc-font-fa-calendar\"><\/i><time class=\"entry-date updated td-module-date\" datetime=\"2024-01-30T11:13:39-08:00\">Jan 30, 2024<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_subtitle tdi_56 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_56\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>As more people cross the border, anti-immigrant stances are inflaming U.S. politics, with few long-term proposals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_featured_image tdi_57 tdb-content-horiz-left td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_57\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"entry-thumb td-animation-stack-type0-2\" title=\"us-mex-border\" src=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/us-mex-border.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/us-mex-border.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/us-mex-border-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/us-mex-border-1024x555.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/us-mex-border-768x416.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/us-mex-border-150x81.jpg 150w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/us-mex-border-696x377.jpg 696w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/us-mex-border-1068x579.jpg 1068w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"650\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_content tdi_58 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 td-post-content tagdiv-type\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_58\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>As more people cross the border, anti-immigrant stances are inflaming U.S. politics, with few long-term proposals more comprehensive than closing the border.<\/p>\n<p>At a Friday, January 26 EMS briefing, immigration experts discussed the political consequences of these proposals in light of the current anti-immigrant electoral cycle, long-term problems with an increasingly politicized asylum system and local responses to high numbers of migrants.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Washington and the border<\/h2>\n<p>The ongoing bipartisan Senate debate around restricting immigration along the country\u2019s Mexican border \u2014 particularly around parole, which allows migrants to live and work in the U.S. temporarily without visas \u2014 is happening in the context of debates around a bill to fund aid for Israel, Taiwan and particularly Ukraine, said Angela Kelley, chief advisor of Policy and Partnerships for the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aila.org\/\">American Immigration Lawyers Association<\/a>\u00a0(AILA) and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org\/\">American Immigration Council<\/a>\u00a0(AIC).<\/p>\n<p>Given that supporting Ukraine \u201cto effectively push back on Putin\u2019s intentions\u201d is a Democrat priority, many Republicans echoing former President Trump \u2014 like House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson \u2014 are threatening to regard the Senate\u2019s compromise as \u201cdead on arrival\u201d and withhold Ukraine aid if Democrats oppose certain immigration limitations, she continued.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"w8QnFLx-_1E\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget2\" title=\"How Changes in Migration Are Contributing to the Crisis at the Border\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/w8QnFLx-_1E?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-10=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Angela Kelley, Chief Advisor, Policy and Partnerships for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (AIC), explains the changes in migration patterns to the U.S. and how they are contributing to the crisis at the border.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The most significant limitation regards the authority of parole, which President Biden has used for generally two-year increments \u201cto bring in people including Afghans, Ukrainians, Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans for humanitarian reasons,\u201d and which many other migrants at the border get through the U.S. Customs app\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbp.gov\/about\/mobile-apps-directory\/cbpone\">CBP One<\/a>\u00a0\u201cas a legal pathway, as opposed to using a smuggler,\u201d Kelley said.<\/p>\n<p>Another limitation regards the negotiation of a \u201ctrigger\u201d to close the border to migrants seeking asylum if there are more than a certain maximum \u2014 especially relevant given that President Biden, in an attempt to salvage the ongoing Congress deal, said he\u2019d \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/border-immigration-election-2182fec11fa008ec96c4202e5656d19e\">shut down the border<\/a>\u201d if given the ability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c30 years ago, if the Border Patrol had encountered 4,000 people, that would have been a five alarm fire. Now we\u2019re seeing 10,000 or 11,000 per day \u2026 because smuggling networks have increased and more people \u2014 52% of migrants \u2014 are coming from other parts of the world beyond Mexico or Central America,\u201d she added. \u201cOur policies are grossly inadequate to handle these numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A \u2018perfect storm\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats are not comfortable with immigration as a complex policy issue,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cMeanwhile, Republicans have a simpler soundbite \u2014 \u2018Biden\u2019s borders are out of control, everybody\u2019s coming in.\u2019 A better balance of compassion and control requires changes to our asylum system \u2026 and that requires us putting people in Congress who won\u2019t use this issue as a political football.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This week, the House Republican response to unprecedented migration takes the form of a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/homeland.house.gov\/hearing\/full-committee-markup-of-articles-of-impeachment-against-dhs-secretary-mayorkas\/\">markup hearing<\/a>\u00a0to discuss impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on the grounds that he defied Federal immigration laws by allowing millions to enter the U.S. illegally. A formal vote against him \u2014 which could come as soon as next week \u2014 would make him the second U.S. Cabinet official to be impeached in history, and the first in 150 years.<\/p>\n<p>In this electoral year, immigration is more political than ever in a \u201cperfect storm\u201d intensified by unprecedented migration from destabilized governments and economies abroad, and by 30 years of largely GOP-blocked attempts to update the U.S. immigration system, said Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based immigrant rights nonprofit America\u2019s Voice.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"1VbVY1IObN8\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget4\" title=\"Given Our Economic and Social Problems in the U.S., Can We Support More Immigrants?\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1VbVY1IObN8?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-10=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Vanessa Cardenas, Executive Director of America\u2019s Voice, a Washington DC-based non-profit advocating for immigrant rights, notes that America has the resources to support immigration \u2013 and solve many of our other problems \u2013 but fails to do so.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe saw in 2016 and 2020 what we\u2019re seeing again, when Trump told Speaker Johnson to make no deal with the Senate: immigration is the GOP\u2019s silver bullet. They\u2019re not interested in solutions, but using it to anger and mobilize their base \u2026 Of course, Americans are worried about the border, but when presented with actual policies, most embrace America as a nation of immigrants,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n<p>Most Americans, for example, support\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dataforprogress.org\/blog\/2023\/9\/20\/a-majority-of-voters-support-continuing-daca-and-granting-citizenship-to-daca-recipients\">DACA<\/a>, while\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2020\/06\/17\/americans-broadly-support-legal-status-for-immigrants-brought-to-the-u-s-illegally-as-children\/\">three out of four<\/a>\u00a0say undocumented immigrants should be able to stay in the U.S. legally if certain requirements are met.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the Trump administration, on the other hand, passed policies that did not fix the problem \u2014 like the Muslim ban, separating families at the border and rhetoric around mass incarceration \u2014 Americans broadly rejected it,\u201d Cardenas said. \u201cThey want a compassionate legal system \u2026 but in the absence of reform, the other side fills the void with narratives of invasion \u2026 This goes beyond immigration. This is a debate about who gets to be an American.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While lack of resources to adequately support all migrants \u201cis a fundamental issue in our country,\u201d she added, \u201cthose who are crying foul against immigrants should then be fighting for housing, health care and labor rights. Immigrants improve our economies and vitalize our communities \u2026 Rather than using migration to pit Americans against each other, we should empower them to be part of the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Meeting migrants on the ground<\/h2>\n<p>Although the numbers have been unprecedented, migrants themselves are nothing new in a major city so close to the border as LA, said Lupita Martinez, regional policy manager for the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chirla.org\/\">Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles<\/a>\u00a0(CHIRLA). Since the COVID-response asylum restriction Title 42 was lifted last May, \u201cwe\u2019ve been receiving buses on an over 20-hour-long ride from Texas,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"DThI118njYQ\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget6\" title=\"The Dangers Migrants Flee, and Face on Their Journey to the U.S.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DThI118njYQ?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-10=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Lupita Martinez, Southern Region Policy Manager at CHIRLA, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, talks about her experience working with new arrivals to the U.S. and how their stories impacted her advocacy and perspective on immigration.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Only 3% of arrivals to LA stay there, however; top cities for asylum seekers with sponsors include San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re now at bus 39, and have been collaborating with the city, county and aid organizations through\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cluejustice.org\/la-welcomes-collective\/\">LA Welcomes Collective<\/a>\u00a0to receive new arrivals with care\u201d including medical attention, translation services, basic needs like food, water and hygiene supplies, and \u2014 for those staying in LA \u2014\u00a0 city orientation, housing and benefits case management, school enrollment and mental health support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we talk about immigration, we talk about numbers, but on the ground they\u2019re more than that,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cI remember meeting a mother and two children less than five years old, whose father had drowned in the river on the way with them. How can you say \u2014 no, we\u2019re not going to help you, when you know you can?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t talk about the numbers behind immigration as a policy issue without also talking about the violence and poverty behind it,\u201d she added. \u201cWhen you\u2019re facing it on the ground, the issue turns into one around what it means to integrate someone new, how you can help them contribute to your community.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BySelen Ozturk Jan 30, 2024 As&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62338,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62337\/revisions\/62338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}