Immigration In the United States & Washington's Response

By: Lucy Castellanos

Immigration in the United States is and will continue to be a very controversial topic. Following Trump’s presidency our nation saw grave restrictions on becoming a legal immigrant, not to mention how difficult it became for asylum seekers. Donald Trump’s policies regarding immigration were often overlooked as many people were so outraged by his proclamation to “build a wall,” closing off the border to Mexico and the United States that his other proceedings went unrecognized. While it is true that this unimaginable policy was set into motion, Trump also passed numerous legislations making immigration benefits that much harder to obtain, thus decreasing the number of immigrants that apply for “permanent residency in the United States,” by 17% in 2019, and 22% in 2020. Immigrants now required a submission of their request for asylum to come from a different country prior to their arrival to the US, as enforced by Trump and the Department of Homeland Security. All of these newly passed restrictions came to a screeching halt as soon as President Biden took office. Almost immediately, the former constrictive legislation on immigration policies was dismissed and more lenient policies were put back into motion. 

Biden’s proposals have significantly increased the number of green cards being issued to immigrants, and “an estimated 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants” will be on an eight-year path to becoming legal citizens of the United States. More specifically, the Build Back Better Act that is currently being processed in Congress allows for applications of millions of more immigrants to be received for protection against deportation, receival of work permits, and drivers licenses. However, one policy that has remained the same throughout Biden & Trump’s presidencies is that those seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border will remain in Mexico until their requests have been reviewed. With whomever is president, there will always be controversy, especially about immigration laws as not everyone currently or will ever completely agree on how our nation should process those seeking asylum.  

In more recent news, the states of Arizona and Texas have voluntarily begun a bus-riding campaign as their governors and citizens’ ideas do not align with those of President Joe Biden. As of today, about 150 buses have shuttled “undocumented immigrants,” from their region straight to Washington, DC to cause unrest. On July 28, 2022 the National Guard had to be called in by the governor of DC in order to have help in processing the numerous asylum seekers being transported into the nation’s capital. This may be an issue in the coming future as such a rapid influx in immigration will place more pressure on public officials and soon will do more damage than good. 

In conclusion, our country has gone back and forth throughout the years from lenient to restrictive policies on immigration, and while there can be setbacks, one of our nation’s primary responsibilities is to protect all those entering our country. Also, immigration is important to our economy as it will allow for greater economic growth, by increasing our labor force. 

Sources:

https://www.infoplease.com/current-events/2022/july-us-news#Washington%20DC%20Under%20Pressure%20As%20Immigrants%20Continue%20To%20Arrive

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/01/11/key-facts-about-u-s-immigration-policies-and-bidens-proposed-changes/

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/four-years-change-immigration-trump

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/mpi-trump-at-4-report-final.pdf

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