How Are U.S. Immigration Policies Affecting Latin Americans?
Immigration is crucial as American voters get ready to cast their ballots in the midterm elections. Some candidates are stoking anxiety over the record number of arrests at the southern border to gain support. The Republican governors of Texas and Florida have taken actions to transfer migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, New York City, and Washington, D.C., which has generated controversy and dominated news coverage. Republican Congressman Don Bacon, who is running for reelection in Nebraska, stated last month, “If you ask Republicans, immigration is the problem number two, after inflation.” However, Latinos, the second-largest voting demographic in the nation, do not find immigration a significant issue. A recent Washington Post-IPSOS poll revealed that Latino voters didn’t even rank the topic among their top five concerns. Only 5% of Latinos consider it a critical matter, while 31% of respondents selected price increases, 20% chose abortion, and 10% listed gun control. However, as Clarissa Martnez de Castro of UnidosUS pointed out in a recent episode of the podcast Latin America in Focus, “Even as Latinos go to the polls with the economy and employment on their mind, immigration is still somewhere in their hearts.”
While some claim that the Biden administration will wait until after the midterm elections to make significant changes to immigration policy, it took action in October to address the growing number of Venezuelan migrants, announcing that it would accept 24,000 asylum seekers while beginning to use Title 42 – a Trump-era policy that the Biden administration itself has sought to end – to prevent the entry of others.
With an emphasis on how they impact migrants from Latin America, AS/COA Online examines the most significant and current U.S. immigration initiatives.
Restriction Due To The Pandemic
Due to the risk of infectious diseases, the United States restricted immigration through its public health strategy. In March 2020, as the Covid-19 epidemic intensified, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) implemented the policy using the infrequently applied Public Health Service Act of 1944. While the Trump administration led the charge using Title 42 as a tool to send migrants to Mexico, it is still in effect under Biden despite the president’s September 2022 declaration that “the pandemic is gone.” By the end of that month, this program had removed almost 2.3 million immigrants from the country. More than 98 percent of Title 42 instances happened near the border with Mexico.
Since Title 42 is applied individually, not every immigrant is necessarily denied entry. As an illustration, around 20,000 Ukrainians seeking asylum in the United States were permitted access through Mexico. Most immigrants who are expelled under Title 42 are sent back to Mexico, where they frequently try to recross the border in perilous circumstances. Through the strategy, some migrants are sent back to their own countries, mainly in Central America.
Since resuming office, the Biden administration has promised to repeal the law, with a May 2022 sunset date as the initial stated objective. The attempts to end it, however, were hampered by legal issues. A federal district court halted the suspension of Title 42 in May. In October 2022, the Biden administration started deporting Venezuelan asylum seekers who had previously been ineligible for deportation under Title 42 while the provision was still in effect.
Latino Immigration Policy Preferences Differ By Political Party
Latinos’ immigration policy goals differ by party membership. Latinos who identify as Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party are more likely than those who identify as Republicans to believe that allowing immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally as children to stay and apply for legal status is a fundamental aim (61% vs. 36%). A similar gap can be found in the percentage of people who believe it is critical to provide a method for most illegal immigrants to stay in the nation lawfully (59% vs. 33%). These findings underscore the importance of having an open and honest conversation about immigration reform that takes into account the diverse perspectives of all Americans. Only by working together can we hope to find solutions that will benefit us all.
