February 5, 2021 — The Biden Harris Administration announced its intent to restore the U.S. refugee program and raise the refugee admissions to 125,000/year. This action will save lives. The refugee program had been drastically cut by the Trump Administration (to just 15,000/year). According to the United Nations, refugee resettlement worldwide was at historic lows last year, despite record forced displacement and 1.4 million human beings “in situations of extreme vulnerability.”
In addition, the DREAM Act, which provides a path to citizenship to some undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, has just been reintroduced in the Senate.
Action: Call Senator Schumer and Senator Durbin to keep fighting for ALL our undocumented community members.
These developments follow 3 executive orders earlier this week:
Addressing family separations: Create a task force to reunite parents and children who were put through the intentionally cruel and deeply traumatizing experience of family separation.
Initiating the restoration of asylum: including a review of Trump Admin’s policies that created barriers to the human right of seeking asylum, such as the policy known as “Remain in Mexico.” By forcing asylum-seekers to await their hearings in some of Mexico’s most dangerous cities, the policy put them at risk of considerable harm.
Reviewing Trump Admin’s actions that limit immigration: including the infamous “public charge” rule that created new barriers for immigrants seeking permanent residence. It allowed to deny green cards on the basis of receiving certain public benefits, which made many immigrants fear using essential benefits such as food stamps or medical care.
Please read this Immigration Impact article for more information on the new executive orders.
Deportations:
These actions follow several others announced earlier, including a 100-day moratorium on deportations that was defeated by a federal judge. Per the Associated Press, the ruling did not require the government to enforce the deportations. However, the Administration has still moved forward with mass deportations, including to countries experiencing war such as Cameroon.
Action: Visit RAICES, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and UndocuBlack to learn more about their ongoing campaign efforts to fight deportations.
Other recent actions by the Biden Admin include:
Reversing the “Muslim Ban”: Over the past four years, this Ban upended the lives of many and has caused unbelievable hardships, whether by way of separating families, preventing students from pursuing educational opportunities, prohibiting employees from work opportunities, blocking access to lifesaving medical care, blocking investment in the U.S. economy, and much more.
Halting the border wall construction: This will be followed by a review of construction contracts and the creation of a plan to redirect wall funds. The wall has cost American taxpayers billions of dollars, destroyed wilderness, and driven people seeking asylum to travel across dangerous locations.
Extending Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians: This deportation protection measure has been extended for thousands of Liberians who have lived in the U.S. for many years and did not come through the refugee program.
Affirming the inclusion of immigrants in the Census: Trump Admin’s executive order calling on the U.S. Census to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census has also been reversed. As a result, states will not lose out on congressional representation and federal funding due to an inaccurate census count.
Thank you for standing with refugees and immigrants!