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By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service - CT - Producer, Contact
February 3, 2021HARTFORD, Conn. - Several hardline Trump-era immigration policies appear headed for the chopping block, after President Joe Biden issued
more executive orders on Tuesday, calling for a full review.
The first order creates a task force to reunite more than 600 migrant children with their parents. The kids were caught up in the "zero tolerance" policy that led to the separation of thousands of families at the border.
Jorge Loweree, policy director for the American Immigration Council, said he hopes Biden will go even further.
"We're also hopeful that the administration will afford these families permanent status through legislative changes," he said, "and also consider providing them with some sort of compensation for the extreme level of harm that they've endured at the hands of the government."
The second order requires a review of the Central American Minors Program and of the "remain in Mexico" policy that has forced asylum seekers to remain south of the border while their U.S. immigration cases wind through the system.
Loweree said what the previous administration dubbed the "Migrant Protections Protocols" ended up creating complications both for the United States and Mexico, as migrants camp out and await their hearing dates.
"The so-called 'Migrant Protections Protocols' program has led to a humanitarian catastrophe," he said. "It has forced tens of thousands of people to endure very dangerous conditions for an extended period of time at our southern border, people who are simply seeking humanitarian protection."
The third executive order prompts a review of the "public charge" policy, which made it harder for immigrants in the United States legally to get a green card if they'd ever received public benefits. Immigrants' advocates have said the program caused widespread fear and led some mixed-status families to refrain from using programs such as Medicaid or food stamps to benefit their U.S.-born children.
