Gently walking back campaign promises
Baby steps.
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President-elect Joe Biden skated his way to victory without ever being pressed by establishment media to defend or outline in explicit detail his immigration agenda.
Now, the Biden administration says several Trump administration immigration restrictions will remain in effect for the foreseeable future, breaking a major campaign promise that went totally unchallenged during the election.
Top Biden advisers told reporters Tuesday that it will "take time" to undo the Trump White House’s immigration policies, mimicking remarks made earlier this week by incoming domestic policy adviser Susan Rice and national security adviser nominee Jake Sullivan.
"We will be able to take some steps to change policies right away," Rice said. "Others will take time to put in place, and the situation at the border will not transform overnight due in large part to the damage done over the last four years. But we are committed to addressing it in full."
She added that no one should expect the border to be "fully open" any time soon.
This is a sharp contrast to the president-elect’s campaign promise to overturn at once the Trump White House’s more controversial immigration policies.
Sullivan, for his part, said there will likely be no immediate reversal of Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the "Remain in Mexico" policy, even though Biden promised in January that he would put an end to the program on “Day One” of his administration.
"[Migrant Protection Protocols] has been a disaster from the start and has led to a humanitarian crisis in northern Mexico,” Sullivan said. “But putting the new policy into practice will take time.”
He added, “The current administration dismantled much of the necessary capacity to ensure the safe and orderly processing of migrants. We need time to increase processing capacity and to do so consistent with public health requirements."
As for the controversial Centers for Disease Control and Prevention policy that allows immigrants to be returned immediately to their countries of origin based on public health concerns, Rice suggested it is also unlikely the next administration will soon overturn that order.
"The current administration has badly damaged our asylum laws and processing capacity at the border at great cost to migrants seeking asylum," she said. "Because of that, as well as the challenges presented by COVID-19, the Biden administration will need time to fix the situation."
She added that anyone who believes the border will be wide open once Biden takes office should think again.
"Processing capacity at the border is not like a light that you can just switch on and off," Rice said. "Migrants and asylum-seekers absolutely should not believe those in the region peddling the idea that the border will suddenly be fully open to process everyone on Day One. It will not."
Rice added, "Our priority is to reopen asylum processing at the border consistent with the capacity to do so safely and to protect public health, especially in the context of COVID-19. This effort will begin immediately, but it will take months to develop the capacity that we will need to reopen fully."
She also said that the Biden administration’s biggest goals, including offering pathways to citizenship, will require laws passed in Congress, so everyone needs to be patient.
"We need legislative changes to make enduring repairs to our immigration system, and the president-elect will share his vision with Congress," Rice said.
This is some straight talk from political pragmatists. It’s also not what voters were promised during the 2020 election by the Democratic presidential nominee.
It's changed from “on Day One” to “hey, look, change takes time.”
If only someone had pushed the president-elect to outline his immigration platform in detail. If only someone had challenged his rosy-eyed assurances. Maybe the press should’ve questioned Biden rather than defer to his campaign talking points. Maybe the press should have spent a little more time demanding that he explain, say, the Obama administration's reliance on the same immigration detention centers he decried during the campaign and a little less time shrugging away obvious falsehoods.
Oh, well. Better luck next time, journalists. You’ll get it right in 2024. I am sure of it.