TRUMP’S ANTI-IMMIGRANT AGENDA WILL BE EVEN HARDER TO STOP A SECOND TIME
As the 2024 election approached, the Biden administration lurched even further to the right on immigration. In June, the administration issued a new policy removing asylum protections for the vast majority of immigrants arriving on the southern border. The policy mirrors a similar ban enacted during Trump’s first term, which immigrant rights groups successfully challenged in federal court. Almost immediately, the ACLU and other groups filed a lawsuit challenging Biden’s asylum ban, which is still ongoing.
In a press release at the time, Javier Hidalgo, legal director at the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), said, “It remains shocking, if no longer surprising, that the same elected officials who promised to restore our commitment to humanitarian protections are more than willing to sacrifice especially Black and Brown lives for political points and personal gain.”
On the campaign trail, Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants, has tried to position herself as tough on immigration. In September, Harris toured the border and touted her work as a prosecutor in cases related to international drug trafficking (ignoring the fact that most drug traffickers are U.S. citizens).
“I won’t only bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump tanked, I will do more to secure our border to reduce illegal border crossings,” Harris said during her speech at the border.
