Plan to Expand the Border Wall, Resume Deportation Flights to Venezuela, are More Betrayals
(Washington)—The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is appalled by the Biden administration’s recent announcement that it will expand border wall construction in yet another return to failed Trump-era policies. This marks another direct departure from campaign promises made by Biden, who himself has criticized the border wall as an unserious policy solution. The administration's subsequent remarks that it has been forced into this position are disingenuous and another betrayal to the fight for immigrant rights and climate justice.
“Biden, again, has demonstrated this administration’s willingness to adopt racist policies and treat immigrants as political pawns. The leadership we need now requires standing up to political theater and implementing real policy solutions in the face of complex issues. Leadership requires listening to the communities meeting the needs of migrants in compassionate and humane ways. Leadership requires standing up to political pressure and rejecting hate,” said ILRC Policy Director Sameera Hafiz.
“In the last week alone, Biden has gone from providing protections through TPS and asylum for Venezuelans to announcing his intention to resume deportations to Venezuela. The Biden administration has shown a lack of courage and true leadership and that its only immigration stance is to turn its back on immigrants,” Hafiz said. “Biden must stop giving into hateful rhetoric and anti-immigrant lawmakers who don’t want you to hear the truth about vibrant border communities.”
The ILRC has issued a blueprint and laid out solutions for the administration to take executive action to put in place compassionate and humane policies. But instead, the Biden administration has continued to collude with the dangerous Operation Lone Star in Texas, reneged on its promise to close privately-run detention centers and instead continued to actively undercut local communities campaigning to remove these facilities from their communities, excluded immigrants in its efforts to address marijuana policy, continued to separate families, and ignored the plight of many asylum seekers.
“We have held out hope year after year for courageous leadership,” Hafiz said. “Instead, the Biden administration has signaled it is surrendering to white supremacists.”
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The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national nonprofit that works with immigrants, community organizations, legal professionals, and policy makers to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people. Through community education programs, legal training & technical assistance, and policy development & advocacy, the ILRC works to protect and defend the fundamental rights of immigrant families and communities.