The United States is facing the potential of a massive, long-term immigration nightmare owing to the Biden presidency’s acceptance of more than a quarter of a million unchaperoned kids who came across the border from Mexico into the country.
US Customs and Border Protection statistics show that since President Joe Biden assumed office, 257,110 migrant minors have been found at the country’s borders. Children are seized by Border Patrol and immediately released to sponsors around the country, not transported to their native countries.
The number of kids who have arrived in the U.S. alone during Biden’s term is well above anything witnessed previously, including the migratory spikes of children during the Trump and Obama presidencies.
Border and refugee services have failed to keep up with the frequent inflow of children, with hundreds entering every week. But the main impact of this surge may not be realized until years from now when these youngsters become grownups and face probable deportation.
Through Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals initiative, 800,000 illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors are shielded from deportation. However, new children entering are ineligible, prompting the need for a renewed DACA.
“Here’s the problem that this administration is not even comprehending — they’re producing the next generation of DACA,” said Rudy Karisch, a retired senior Border Patrol officer who managed functions within the southern border’s upper zone for apprehensions. “We have not even figured out what we’re going to do with the previous generation, and they’re creating the next generation.“
DACA was launched by Obama-era Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in 2012.
President Obama gave illegal immigrants legal status following years of unsuccessful attempts by Congress. DACA permitted unauthorized immigrants who were younger than the age of 31 and had come into America before becoming 16 years old and before 2007 to petition that the authorities not deport them. DACA participants also obtained paperwork to lawfully work in the U.S. The safeguards were valid for 2 years at a time and would then require asking for renewal.
10 yrs ago on August 15, 2012, DACA applications were accepted for the first time. DACA was not created overnight by politicians wanting to help immigrants, DACA was won after years of relentless organizing by undocumented, immigrant, & allied communities across the United States
— United We Dream (@UNITEDWEDREAM) August 15, 2022
Friday marks a decade since DACA was introduced, although, in that time, Congress has not moved to develop a permanent solution for illegal immigrants who wish to remain in the nation permanently.
“It was, at the time, seen as a stopgap measure to provide relief to unauthorized immigrant youth after Congress had repeatedly failed to offer a path to legal status for these ‘Dreamers,’” a recent report by Muzaffar Chishti and Julia Gelatt said. “Ten years on, DACA has proven more enduring than expected and remains the only large-scale policy change implemented during this period related to the legal status of unauthorized immigrants in the country.“
Former President Trump moved to end DACA in 2017. In early 2018, he asked Congress for $25 billion to construct a wall on the southern frontier with Mexico and other restrictions on immigration in exchange for a plan to provide 1.8 million undocumented immigrants, including DACA participants, a path to U.S. citizenship. There was no agreement reached.
Eight states, including Texas, sued DACA in 2018. When Trump ended DACA, many who wanted to maintain it contended he hadn’t adequately justified it. 2020 Supreme Court supported immigration supporters.
A federal judge in Texas decided in mid-2021 that DACA was improperly formed but let current participants renew their permits, according to USCIS. December 2021, Biden reinstituted DACA.
Because judges have banned new applications, Biden-era children might be deported, opening the door for DACA 2.0.
“The DACA program, as created in 2012 and kept alive by the courts, requires the applicant among other criteria to have entered the US and been resident there since June 15, 2007,” stated MPI Director Of communications Michelle Mittlestadt. “So as currently configured, the program would not be open to arrivals who have been in the country less than 15 years.“
Democrats have offered much legislation to legalize DACA participants, but none has passed. Republicans have criticized Democrats’ attempts to adopt “amnesty” laws, which they claim would encourage foreigners to try to enter the U.S.
Karisch worries that the 2 million cases standing before 500 immigration courts worldwide will rise, taking up to eight years to conclude.
“The backlog with the court systems is just getting insane. It’s not going to get any better,” said Karisch. “They’re creating a problem that’s just going to continue to grow.”