Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva tells The Arizona Republic that necessary changes to our nation’s immigration system won’t be found in “fearmongering. The work requires common sense and realistic approaches.”
Sadly, that hasn’t come from Republicans, who have instead chosen to wage hostile campaigns against migrants seeking safety and hope in our country. One of these Republicans, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, reportedly bemoaned he wasn’t closer to the southern border in order to make it a political issue for himself. So he instead has gone to Texas to create a problem.
“We can begin with significant incremental legislation such as the DREAM & PROMISE Acts that the U.S. House has already passed and still awaits action in the Senate,” Grijalva said in written responses to The Arizona Republic. This bill would put Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and Temporary Protection Status (TPS) holders onto a path to legalization, and passed the House 228-197 more than a year ago. But as Grijalva noted, it has stalled in the Senate.
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The House also passed legislation addressing farmworkers at the time by an even greater margin, 247-174, but that too has stalled. The congressman said that we must “[p]ass legislation that deals with labor needs in essential occupations.” The blueprints are there, with several of Grijalva’s colleagues in the chamber previously introducing legislation that would put millions of undocumented essential workers onto a path to legalization.
“I believe in building an immigration system that is fair, humane and reflective of our immigrant values,” Grijalva continued, saying the U.S. “must do away with the ugly remnants of Title 42, the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program and other deterrence policies that force migrants to take extreme measures to reach U.S. soil. For decades, DHS has implemented deterrence policies that fail to address the root cause of migration and only exacerbate the situation along the border.”
Fact check: True. Stephen Miller’s debunked Title 42 order using the novel coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to quickly kick out asylum-seekers in violation of their rights only increased the number of apprehensions at the southern border.
Deterrence-based policies also have a death count, pushing migrants to take more dangerous routes. The common misconception is that stricter policies make a more secure border, but deterrence policies beginning in the mid-1990s have only killed migrants by knowingly pushing them into more and more dangerous terrain. “Of course, the U.S. government knew that Prevention Through Deterrence would send people to their deaths,” researcher John Washington told Rewire’s Tina Vasquez in 2016.
The Biden administration faced GOP-led lawsuits when attempting to end use of both the Remain in Mexico and Title 42 policies. While the latter remains in place under a court order, the administration has been able to disenroll migrants from the former, following a legal fight that went all the way to the Supreme Court.
“We must address the long-standing backlog in the courts,” Grijalva continued. “We must provide funding for resources, sufficient personnel for migrant processing and aid for local organizations and localities on the ground like those in Southern Arizona who are doing good work.” Many of these organizations aid migrants who have been processed and released by border officials and help them get to their next destination rather than, say, ship them off somewhere for political gain. “Addressing the root causes of migration, including climate change, corruption, violence and poverty, should be part and parcel of our work abroad. I support establishing in-country processing programs for those seeking asylum in their home countries to humanely deter the dangerous trek to our border.”
“Our nation is capable of managing the border and safeguarding the lives of children, families and adults seeking refuge with humane, fair and efficient immigration policies in place,” Grijalva concludes. “The attitude around immigration should be to seek a solution, not continue to make it worse.”
Grijalva is offering solutions, and there have been bills and plans from a swath of Democratic leaders. Of course, what happens to those plans will depend on the results of the upcoming midterms, happening in just a few weeks. Grijalva is facing Republican Luis Pozzolo in his race. While the congressman offered responses on a variety of questions submitted by The Arizona Republic, Pozzolo did not respond. That says everything.
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