EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – With rallies and emails ahead of the State of the Union address, activists are reminding President Biden of unfulfilled campaign promises to bring about sweeping immigration reforms.
“It’s clear to us there’s a number of things that didn’t happen this year. We don’t have immigration reform. We have millions of people still abused and persecuted,” said Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights. He was referring to the closing of the border to asylum-seekers and lingering Trump-era programs such as “Remain in Mexico” and Title 42 “express” expulsions of newly arrived migrants.
The group on Tuesday gathered at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in El Paso carrying signs alluding to the campaign promise of legalizing 11 million unauthorized immigrants who have been in the country for years, many of whom are raising American-born children.
“We are disappointed but at the same time we’re putting pressure for Biden to really provide solutions on immigration and for immigrant families and not keep the policies of deportation and expelling migrants,” Garcia said.
The Washington, D.C.-based America’s Voice warned those unfulfilled promises could cost Biden and the Democrats at the polls.
“During the remaining months before the 2022 midterms, President Biden and Democrats need to deliver on an immigration breakthrough. Democrats cannot afford to leave votes on the table with a disillusioned base,” said Vanesa Cardenas, deputy director of America’s Voice.
She said the Democratic majority in Congress can still enact immigration relief by ignoring the ruling of the Senate parliamentarian of not including immigration provisions on financial legislation such as the Build Back Better Act.
The White House can also provide temporary relief through new Temporary Protected Status designations, she added.
“Producing an immigration breakthrough is not only a moral imperative but also a political imperative,” Cardenas said, warning that recent polls suggest Democratic base voters are turned off by Biden’s failure to deliver promised immigration reforms.
Another group, United We Dream, has scheduled a rally Wednesday outside the White House to demand immigration reform and call for an end to “Remain in Mexico” and Title 42 expulsions.
