How Can President Biden Meet the American Electorate’s Demands on Immigration?

With general election campaigning in full swing and a deadlocked Congress unlikely to budge on immigration, new polling suggests that administrative action holds the answer. It’s not just good policy, it’s good politics.

Claudia Hernandez, Senior Communications Manager of the Immigration Hub

As the general election kicks off, the sharp contrast between former President Donald Trump's extremist agenda and President Joe Biden's humane approach on immigration casts a significant shadow, underscoring the weighty implications of their choice in November. Trump and the GOP will undoubtedly continue deploying immigration as an electoral wedge issue, defining the contours of their cruel agenda with a multi-million dollar network of right-wing media and far-right influencers. While evidence shows diminishing returns on the electoral efficacy of this strategy, it nonetheless continues to benefit from Democrats’ reticence to proactively address the issue. 

Without an alternative approach to Trump’s extremism, Biden and Democrats can only continue playing defense–or worse, mimicking ugly Trump-era policy positions and rhetoric in an effort to appear “tough” (AKA “Republican-lite”) on the issue. Given Trump’s commitment to blocking any bipartisan immigration legislation in Congress, federal lawmakers will likely remain at a decades-old impasse. The question then remains: how can President Biden offer a closing argument on immigration that meets the demands of the American electorate?

Biden Must Advance Balanced Administrative Actions

President Biden should use his administrative authority to increase capacity to manage migration and resource federal law enforcement and government agencies to increase screening and apprehension of drugs and fentanyl at the border. Equally, the Biden administration has a critical opportunity to appeal to key persuadable voters in battleground states, including Biden’s 2020 coalition of supporters such as youth, Latino, and Black voters, by also delivering popular immigration solutions that provide legal pathways for Dreamers and long-settled immigrant communities.

Not convinced? The latest polling from media and advocacy organizations paints a telling picture: a majority of voters, including swing voters and key demographic groups, support a balanced compromise to fixing our immigration system–one that includes sensible border security policies and a pathway to citizenship.

• A new battleground poll commissioned by the Immigration Hub and conducted by Global Strategy Group found that two in five (43%) voters cite immigration as one of their top issues, falling behind only inflation (51%).
• The survey also found that 81% of battleground voters support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have been living in the U.S. for many years, pass a background check, and pay taxes.
  • Support for a path to citizenship remains high among Hispanic voters (86%), Republicans (74%), and Independent voters (77%).
• The GSG poll also found strong support for delivering both border security solutions and legal pathways for immigrants currently in the U.S. More than 70% of voters support investing in border security measures such as increased screening capacity, improving technology and infrastructure at the border, and increasing the number of border officials.
• In the same GSG poll, battleground voters opposed family separation (65%) and banning asylum (55%).
• On par with these findings, the Wall Street Journal found that 59% of voters support the bipartisan border deal while 74% of voters support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, 66% of voters support a mechanism for Dreamers to become U.S. citizens, and 58% of voters support an increase in legal immigration.

The polling clearly indicates that despite GOP efforts to skew the national narrative against immigrants, U.S. voters, even Republicans, overwhelmingly support immigration solutions that balance security with humanity.

Balanced Solutions in Practice:

As Congress continues to block border security funds, the administration should consider border security measures such as a Stafford Act national emergency declaration that would provide more resources to promote fair and efficient processing and orderliness. In addition to these border security actions, the administration should consider the following in order to keep a balanced approach that both secures the border and provides relief to long-term residents:

1. Modernizing an existing rule for America’s family caretakers to stay together. The administration can make a program currently on the books more accessible to thousands of long-term residents who meet the requirements of living in the U.S. for 10 years and having U.S. citizen or resident relatives who would face hardship if the applicant were removed. Many Dreamers, including DACA recipients, could qualify for work permits and eventually permanent residency if the rule is updated.
2. Permit all spouses of Americans to work while they wait for permanent residency. The administration can explore all its options— from its parole and deferred action authorities, to amending existing work permit regulations — to allow spouses of U.S. citizens to work while they wait to become permanent U.S. residents. 
3. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ecuador, DRC, Nicaragua and all other nations that qualify. By redesignating TPS to these nations, many people from these countries who have been living in the U.S. and have established roots, been paying taxes, and have U.S. citizen children and other family members can remain in the U.S. and continue to contribute to their communities and local economies.

Taken together, these decisive actions would provide thousands of Dreamers and long-settled immigrants in the U.S. with access to legal pathways, allowing President Biden to deliver on his original promise to Americans: ensuring that immigrant families can stay together and continue contributing to the nation they call home. In stark contrast to Donald Trump, the president can show the American people that instead of demonizing immigrants, separating families or threatening to round up and deport immigrants, he is committed to rebuilding our immigration system in line with America’s values and centered on the very families who have fueled our economic comeback.