Given that the immigration issue very likely worked against the Harris candidacy and in favor of Trump, I am noting here what the Biden White House did in first days of its administration in 2017. The boldness is a far cry from the furtive actions taken in 2013 and 2024 to reduce the visibility of border crossings.
Setting the stage – 2020 Democratic Party platform: In the summer of 2016, the Party issued a platform which included a 1,800 word section of immigration. This section provided the context for substantially all Biden administration action on immigration until it sought to cut down border crossings in 2023.
The section includes this overall concept: “Democrats believe that our fight to end systemic and structural racism in our country extends to our immigration system, including the policies at our borders and ports of entry, detention centers, and within immigration law enforcement agencies and their policies and operations.” The section includes no mention enforcement of laws on legal status of persons or mention of borders except to revoke Trump administration policy. The mentions the “root causes” of migration—”violence and insecurity, poverty, pervasive corruption, lack of educational and economic opportunity, and the impacts of climate change,” calling for “well-designed assistance programs can help prevent and mitigate the effects of migration crises around the world.”
January 20, 2021, Comprehensive Immigration bill: The Biden administration submitted, as expected, an immigration bill on January 20: the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. The highlight of the bill is legalization of substantially all unauthorized persons in the country as of 1/1/21. It did not significantly alter the design of the country’s visa system except for normalization, through temporary legal status, of the state of unauthorized persons
February 2017 Executive Order: On February 2, 2021, the president issued an executive order “on Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans.” The order was focused on the rights of foreign-born persons in the country. There was no mention of policy and practice about authorizing entry to the U.S. or addressing the unauthorized population:
“Consistent with our character as a Nation of opportunity and of welcome, it is essential to ensure that our laws and policies encourage full participation by immigrants, including refugees, in our civic life; that immigration processes and other benefits are delivered effectively and efficiently; and that the Federal Government eliminates sources of fear and other barriers that prevent immigrants from accessing government services available to them.”
Remain in Mexico program suspended: Biden’s DHS on the first day of his administration suspended all new enrollments in MPP, ending people being sent back to Mexico. It undertook immediately to terminate the program.
Other executive orders in early 2021, (go here for more detail): revoked the prior Administration’s orders excluding noncitizens from the Census; directed the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attorney General, to take all appropriate actions under the law to achieve the goal of preserving and fortifying Dreamers’ protections; repeals Muslim/African Bans; reviewed Trump Administration “extreme vetting” practices; immediately terminated the national emergency declaration used to justify some wall-funding diversions and immediately pauses wall construction projects to review legality of the funding and contracting methods used.