Immigrant rights advocates in El Paso sound alarm over 'draconian' Republican proposals

Immigrant rights advocates are sounding the alarm over talks between the White House and U.S. Senate Republicans on border proposals they say would institute a Title 42-like program, reignite family separation and detention, and effectively ban asylum in the country.

Republicans have tied the immigration proposals to a spending package that includes ongoing aid for Ukraine and Israel.

Advocates also are concerned that President Joe Biden seems willing to compromise with Senate Republicans in an effort to pass the spending bill late this year or early next year, a move they said would be a "betrayal" of his commitment to advancing humane solutions to the nation's mass migration woes.

Prominent El Paso voices took part in a briefing this week hosted in collaboration with national advocacy groups The Immigration Hub and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). Bishop Mark Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso and Hope Border Institute Executive Director Dylan Corbett voiced their concerns with the immigration negotiations.

"The policies reportedly under consideration ... are regressive in every way," Seitz said. "Let me be clear, the situation at the border is not ideal ... but at least there is a process. Taking that away would be devastating."

Corbett cautioned that the Biden administration and Democrats should be wary of Republican actions.

"Walking into this Republican trap would be a self-inflicted wound (for Democrats)," Corbett added. "This is trying to out-Trump Trump."

What immigration policies are Republicans trying to pass?

While no deal has been reached, Republicans are pushing for a series of "draconian" measures, said Immigration Hub Executive Director Kerri Talbot.

"It is incredibly important that they don't rush this," she said. "These laws are going to be in place for decades. We need to make sure we're being thoughtful and not rushing this through at the 11th hour."

Among Talbot's biggest concerns is a policy that would once again grant expulsion authority similar to Title 42, where asylum-seekers could be turned away with no hearing and returned to Mexico. That, she said, would result in an effective ban on asylum in the U.S. and generate further chaos at the border.

"We do oppose this provision," Talbot said. "They're talking about triggers on how many people arrive a day ... We shouldn't be draconian in our approach to blocking all asylum-seekers."

Republicans are also attempting to clear a policy that would bar asylum for migrants that transit through another country, as well as an "expedited removal" program to be executed within the country's interior — not just along the border.

"In general, this negotiation is really touching on what it means to be an American, who can be an American," Talbot said. "These are core issues, they affect who we are as a country, what our values are."

'Dire consequences for kids'

For Wendy Cervantes, Director of Immigration and Immigrant Families at CLASP, perhaps the most frightening aspect of the Republican proposals is the impact it will have on migrant families and children.

"This is an issue that matters to all those working to build a more just and equitable country," she said.

Cervantes noted that the now-expired Title 42 acted as a vehicle for child detention and family separation during the throes of the Trump presidency — the proposals on offer now, she said, are "basically Title 42 on steroids."

For Cervantes, it is "incomprehensible" that Biden would backpedal on his promise to address immigration and asylum in a humane way and instead bring back the "anti-immigrant" policies of his predecessor.

"Families and children seek asylum because their lives depend on it," she said. "The consequences of this deal would simply be devastating."

Corbett: 'Too much pain, too much suffering' at border

For Seitz and Corbett, the effects of Title 42 are still fresh in their minds.

Corbett recalled three years of Title 42 along the border and more before that under the controversial "Remain in Mexico" policy.

"None of that worked," he said, and a "regressive" policy drudging up those same policies won't work either.

"We're just climbing out of the crisis here in El Paso," Corbett said. "There's too much pain, too much suffering here at the border."

Seitz expressed a similar sentiment.

"Today, at the end of 2023, I am astonished that people in Washington, D.C., are thinking about bringing back a policy like Title 42," he said.

Seitz echoed recent calls from Pope Francis for a "more vigorous humanitarian response" to the ongoing crisis along the nation's southern border.

"We should be leading that response," Seitz said.

Escobar: Reform 'outdated immigration laws'

During a briefing last week, U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, similarly criticized the proposals on offer by the Senate Republicans. She stressed the past Republican measure didn't solve the migrant problems.

"I have been really alarmed by the way that Senate Republicans have been engaging on the issue of the border supplemental," Escobar said. "I will be the first person to agree that the status quo must change, I've been saying that for years, ever since I got to Congress and before I was in Congress."

"We need to reform our outdated immigration laws," she continued, "they are not reflective of the challenges and opportunities we have today and those of us who live and work and raise families on the border want to see change, it's long overdue. But the approach that Senate Republicans are taking moves us, really, much farther away from a solution."

Escobar said she is concerned that Republicans are holding aide packages for Ukraine and Israel as ransom to get anti-immigration policies through the Senate.

"This is a level of insanity that is hard to even fathom," she said, "that Republicans in the Senate are refusing to come to the table and engage in meaningful bipartisan fixes that could help address the challenge and the opportunity."

Gonzales: 'Nothing partisan about what's happening'

While Democrats and immigrant advocates are decrying the extreme policies being advanced by Senate Republicans, at least one border Republican tried to strike a non-partisan tone.

During a news conference Wednesday, Dec. 20, in Eagle Pass, U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, seemed to express a willingness to reach across the aisle. He said there was "nothing partisan about what's happening."

"I will work with anyone to make this go away," Gonzales said.

Authorities in Eagle Pass are overwhelmed, with more than 10,000 migrants currently in detention there, he said. The record-breaking numbers, Gonzales said, show no sign of letting up.

"So, while America is opening their presents under the tree, smiles all around ... the people of Eagle Pass, and the people of El Paso, and the people in Arizona, and the people along the border are going to be stuck having to deal with this border crisis," he lamented.

Gonzales called for surging immigration judges to the border.

"This is America," he said. "People need to get their cases heard in days, not years. And if they do not qualify for asylum, they need to be deported."

While Gonzales said he has been working closely with Senate Republicans on border negotiations, he vowed to oppose any efforts to thwart meaningful legislation to bring relief along the border.

Gonzales was not immediately available to comment on whether he would join Escobar and a bipartisan contingent of lawmakers in support of the Dignity Act, a comprehensive immigration reform package that creates more legal pathways for undocumented immigrants while also increasing funding for border security.

"I am sounding the alarm as loud as I possibly can," he said. "I don't care how we got here; I don't care whose fault it is. I want this to end, and I want our country to be safe. The time to act is now."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso immigrant advocates decry GOP's 'regressive' border proposals