Joe Biden’s immigration agenda overshadowed by migrant challenges in first 100 days

WASHINGTON – Two weeks into Joe Biden’s presidency, his Department of Health and Human Services announced it was opening a temporary influx facility to house unaccompanied migrant children – in the same location of a similar facility that was met with criticism under former President Donald Trump.

The facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, was the first temporary influx care facility of roughly a dozen emergency intake sites the Biden administration scrambled to set up to house thousands of unaccompanied children coming to the United States through the U.S.-Mexico border before they are released to a sponsor or family member.

The Biden administration has grappled with a dramatic increase of unaccompanied migrant children, families and adults trying to make their way to the United States over the past several months, a situation that has come to define Biden's first 100 days on immigration policy and drawn fierce Republican criticism. But some experts and activists say it’s unclear whether the Biden administration could have done more to prepare for the increased number of migrants, which had been increasing for months before he took the oath of office.

“I don't think anybody anticipated the pent-up demand that was at the border,” said Ali Noorani, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy group. “There was nothing necessarily that could be done the day before the inauguration to make the day after the inauguration really go any easier on that part.”

Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized Biden for his handling of the migrant surge, punctuated by images of children and migrants crowded at border facilities, sleeping on mats with foil blankets. Children have been kept at jail-like facilities run by Customs and Border Protection for more than a 72-hour legal limit before going to an HHS facility, drawing concern from lawmakers and activists.

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HHS has since established several emergency facilities to more quickly move children out of CBP facilities. Last week, the number of children being held in those facilities dropped below 1,800 from roughly 5,700 in late March.

Since October, there has been a steady rise in the number of migrants coming to the United States, but in the early months of 2021, the numbers skyrocketed. Migrant encounters in March jolted by 71% in just one month, and the number of migrant children encounters doubled.

The number of migrants apprehended in March – 172,331 – was higher than the most recent peak in 2019, when 144,116 migrants were apprehended that May. Last year, there were low levels of migrants coming to the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic.

During his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, Biden didn’t focus on the border challenges his administration has faced. Instead, he focused on urging Congress to pass his comprehensive immigration legislation, which would create a pathway to citizenship for the nearly 11 million people living in the United States without citizenship, in addition to highlighting Vice President Kamala Harris’ role addressing root causes of migration from Central American countries.

Biden also noted that if Congress doesn’t pass his comprehensive bill, he would like to see them pass some sort of immigration legislation that would create a pathway for "Dreamers," undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, as well as farm workers and protections for those with Temporary Protected Status.

“The country supports immigration reform. Let’s act,” the president said.

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The White House has said it's just working to fix a problem it inherited from the Trump administration, which employed hard-line policies to coincide with the former president's campaign promise to build a wall and control the flow of illegal immigrants.

"The increase in migration started a year ago and the previous administration did not prepare for an increase in children. There were not enough beds in shelters, and they also put a staff hiring freeze in place that slowed down preparations," a White House spokesperson said. "Since the start of the administration we have identified tens of thousands of new beds for kids and are reuniting them with their parents more swiftly."

How the White House responded to the surge since inauguration

Biden in his first days of office unraveled many of Trump’s immigration policies and was praised by Democrats and activists.

He also began taking what he calls a more humane approach of accepting children and some families coming to the U.S.-Mexico border rather than expelling them to dangerous parts of Mexico or forcing them to make the journey to their home countries. But as the number of migrants increased, the government struggled to quickly house and process migrants, creating problems and pushback from some activists and lawmakers.

During his first news conference in late March, Biden attributed the increase of migrants coming to the U.S. as part of a seasonal migration pattern but said right now is not the time for migrants to come to the border. That message has been repeated by Biden and other White House officials, who say they need more time to come up with a policy.

Biden has since appointed Vice President Kamala Harris to work with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries – Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador – to help mitigate migration to the United States' southern border. Harris said Monday thshe would be making her first international trip to Guatemala in June. On Tuesday, Biden announced that he was nominating Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of Harris County, Texas, who was critical of Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policy, to be director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

The Biden administration is now accepting only children and some families coming to the U.S.-Mexico border. But the majority of migrants are being turned away under a Trump-era policy called Title 42, which allows Customs and Border Protection to expel undocumented migrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in holding facilities.

White House officials have said it was difficult to prepare for the increased number of migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border during the transition between the Trump administration and the Biden administration. The White House has also blamed Trump for the increase of migrants, saying he cut funding to establish more beds and employed the Migrant Protection Protocols, known as "Remain in Mexico," which forced migrants to wait in Mexico for their court hearings. Biden said in a news conference in March that Trump “dismantled all the elements that exist to deal with what had been a problem and ... continued to be a problem for a long time.”

“So what we’re doing now is attempting to rebuild the system that can accommodate what is happening today,” he said.

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Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, associate professor of Chicano and Chicana studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the Biden administration faced “massive bureaucratic issues” to help address the border situation, such as the delayed confirmation of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Noorani also noted the large numbers of migrants coming to the border was fueled by past policies under the Trump administration, such as the Migrant Protection Protocols, because many migrants who were forced to wait tried to come to the U.S. again, plus cartels falsely told migrants it was OK to come to the United States now. He said that the infrastructure to process migrants was going to take time under a new administration but that the administration is on the right track.

“The pieces are starting to fall into place, and then I think we're going to see the public saying: ‘OK, they solved the problem. They fixed the problem,’” Noorani said.

Frank Sharry, founder and executive director of America’s Voice, an immigrant rights organization, also said it was unclear whether the Biden administration was prepared for the influx of migrant children. Sharry said that while he was on a number of calls during the transition to talk policy, “never once did anybody from the outside or on the inside say, ‘We're expecting a huge increase in unaccompanied minors.’”

“Was anyone’s hair on fire saying there's gonna be a huge increase? I didn't hear it from outside, from the inside, from experts. I just didn't hear it,” he said.

Sharry noted that focusing on building an infrastructure to get children out of Customs and Border Protection custody and to sponsors and families quickly and safely has “slowed their progress” on immigration but praised the administration for not reverting “to cruelty and deterrence” of migrants.

Biden faces other immigration hurdles beyond what is happening at the border.

Hinojosa-Ojeda said it has been unclear who is in charge of addressing the different border situations, saying the Biden administration hasn't been able to “gain control of the narrative."

In his first days in office, Biden was quick to begin unraveling many of Trump’s immigration policies. Biden signed executive orders to stop construction on the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, established a task force to reunite parents and children who were separated under Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy, and introduced a comprehensive immigration legislation package to Congress.

“They have yet to come back and regroup and capture that momentum that they had on Day One, in terms of a vision and a message,” Hinojosa-Ojeda said.

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Several Republican lawmakers have said they want to see the border under control, as well as border security as more of a priority, before moving on legislation. Some Republicans are also calling on Biden to reestablish some Trump-era policies, such as the Migrant Protection Protocols.

"Instead of upholding his promises, President Biden decided it would be better to make a hard-left turn on his immigration agenda," Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., wrote in a Fox News op-ed last week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the border influx a "humanitarian crisis," a term the Biden administration has refused to use. Some lawmakers along the border, including Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, also have criticized Biden for how he has handled the surge, pointing to the strain on border communities.

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While the Biden administration has focused on getting the border under control, experts and activists say they want to see Biden now move forward in other ways. Among them are pushing through immigration legislation in Congress and focusing on other efforts, such as extending Temporary Protected Status – which offers temporary status to people from countries that are often facing armed conflict or natural disaster – to people from countries like Haiti and Cameroon.

“We're not going to get immigration reform passed by focusing on the kids in the cages,” Hinojosa-Ojeda said. “We’re going to need to now engage the American imagination.”

He said support for immigration change is dwindling as more attention is focused on the border.

Sharry also supports the Biden administration turning its focus to getting an immigration bill passed in Congress.

“They've had some fits and starts but an overall positive record in the first 100 days, but what happens in the next 100 days is what's going to be decisive on immigration policy,” Sharry said. “It seems to us that our best chance to pass legislation that's going to legalize millions is if we get it included on the next infrastructure bill as it goes through budget reconciliation.”

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The Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which are separate from Biden’s comprehensive immigration legislation package, passed in the House of Representatives in March. But they have yet to be brought up in the Senate, and there are concerns of getting bipartisan support for the bills.

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Some activists are urging lawmakers to include a pathway to citizenship for those living in the United States without citizenship in the infrastructure bill.

Democrats are trying to drum up support for immigration legislation, and some advocates are optimistic of getting an immigration law passed this year.

“Democrats understand that they're going to be judged not by their effort but by their results, and they know this,” Sharry said. “They feel the pressure, they want to produce. And quite frankly, if they use every ounce of their power, they will get it done.”

Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden's 100 days: Immigration agenda overshadowed by migrant challenge