Noorani said Biden needs the backing of a much broader swath of Americans if he wants to build the support he needs to address immigration issues.
Supporters Want More Action on Immigration Promises
Since taking office, Biden has followed through on several campaign promises, including stopping construction on the border wall. He ended a Trump administration program that required asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico as they waited for their cases to be heard. And he created a task force to reunite immigrant children and parents who were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.
But legislation to create a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants has gone almost nowhere. Smaller legislative packages that protected farmworkers and younger immigrants brought to the country illegally as children have also stalled.
Finding a way to protect those younger immigrants has become even more important to Biden’s supporters after a federal judge in Texas ruled this month that the program created to protect them was unconstitutional.
The administration has vowed to appeal the decision and also supports efforts by Democratic lawmakers to try fold the issue into a massive budget reconciliation package this summer.
In the past week, however, Biden has twice questioned whether the Senate rules would allow such a move.
Supporters Want the Asylum System Restored
Biden’s prerecorded remarks to the virtual conference are not expected to be lengthy. And it’s unlikely he will address the fate of a Trump-era pandemic rule that has been kept in place, allowing his administration to quickly turn away tens of thousands of people seeking asylum.
That rule, known as Title 42, has angered some supporters who see it less as a public health measure and more of a convenient way to deter migration and keep political opponents at bay.
“One of the most damaging legacies from the Trump administration is the goal posts were moved in such a way that we further limited the rights of asylum-seekers and migrants at the border,” said Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Border Institute.
“And if we don’t have the political courage to at least restore the modicum of rights that asylum-seekers have at the border, the moving of those goal posts and the eroding of those rights will be the new normal,” he said.
Pandemic Relief Likely to Be a Focus
Those attending the virtual conference will, of course, be interested in what Biden has to say about pandemic relief as well. The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on Latino families, said Clarissa Martinez De Castro, deputy vice president of policy and advocacy at UnidosUS.