Analyzing Biden’s State of the Union address on immigration — all seven sentences of it
Sandwiched between a call for an assault rifle ban and pledge to support congressional abortion legislation, Biden focused just seven sentences on immigration reform, but that little bit says a lot on how he sees the border and what he thinks he can accomplish across the aisle.
By Leah Durst-Lee and Kristen Allen
The night of February 7th, President Biden addressed the nation in his 2nd State of the Union (SOTU) Address. An annual occurrence, SOTU addresses are an opportunity for the president to share their hopes and plans for the next year with the government and citizens, as well as reflect upon current events or highlight policies that worked under their administration. Whether republican or democrat, each president will inevitably touch upon the economy, international relations, and immigration.
In this SOTU address, however, Biden shied away from issues of immigration, mentioning the border 5 times, and (im)migration only 3 times. The largest section of the speech dedicated to immigration was in fact only 7 sentences long, sandwiched between a call for an assault rifle ban and pledge to support congressional abortion legislation. Here is Biden’s SOTU address on immigration:
“And let’s also come together on immigration and make it a bipartisan issue like it was before.
We now have a record number of personnel working to secure the border, arresting 8,000 human smugglers and seizing over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in just the last several months.
Since we launched our new border plan last month, unlawful migration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela has come down 97%.
But America’s border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts.
If you won’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border. And a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farm workers, and essential workers.
Here in the people’s House, it’s our duty to protect all the people’s rights and freedoms.”
Then several minutes later, while mourning the more than 70,000 Americans who die every year from Fentanyl, Biden said this about the border:
“Let’s launch a major surge to stop fentanyl production, sale, and trafficking, with more drug detection machines to inspect cargo and stop pills and powder at the border.”
Framing immigration as a security threat
From start to finish, Biden’s summary of immigration is framed in what migration experts call the security-migration nexus: that the movement of people across borders has become persistently linked with crime and terrorism fears. Migrants, as a result, have become unquestioningly and unjustly labeled as criminals — especially when data shows that migrants are half as likely than citizens to commit crimes.
Criminal activity and immigration are separate issues. Drug trafficking and the humanitarian needs of migrants at our Southern border are not the same. In fact, the data shows the majority of fentanyl trafficking is conducted by US citizens for US citizen consumption. By beginning his discussion on immigration with data on human traffickers and trafficked drugs, Biden reinforced the dangerous trope that immigration is a security threat.
Lower rates of irregular immigration
“Since we launched our new border plan last month, unlawful migration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela has come down 97%.”
Biden hailed a new border plan for reducing “disorderly and unsafe migration” by 97% — a claim which PolitiFact has fact checked as mostly true.
The new border plan Biden praises is the expansion of a program to accept up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — and a commitment to return as many migrants from the same countries who arrive at the U.S. southern border. Those accepted into the U.S. must first apply from their home countries and have a U.S. sponsor before they can travel to the U.S. While this is a welcome addition to a gamut of immigration policies, it will assist far too few migrants and continues the risk of violating the rights of those pushed back at the border.
Furthermore, by praising lower numbers of “unlawful” immigration, Biden is praising the use of Title 42, a policy which has been criticized for violating the human rights of asylum seekers. The numbers of people who cross U.S. borders are recorded and released each month by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, and disaggregated by the law they were arrested under. The two current laws are Title 8, the regular border enforcement law, and Title 42, a law to stop the movement of people and goods during a pandemic.
The problem is that Title 42 violates refugee law by sending back asylum seekers without their right to seek asylum or be protected from return to a country where they face danger to life or liberty. So the lower numbers that Biden is praising means that fewer asylum seekers are able to seek asylum in the U.S.
Questioning “unlawful” migration
Biden was proud to announce during his SOTU address that: “unlawful migration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela has come down 97%.” The problem is that calling these crossings “unlawful” is misguided, and only contributes to the false belief that immigration is a security threat.
Under international law, asylum seekers cannot be criminally charged for entering a country to seek asylum — even if they don’t have a regular, ‘lawful’ legal status when they cross. Article 31(1) of the Refugee Convention, of which the U.S. became a party when it ratified the Refugee Convention Protocol, states:
“The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened…provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.”
Many of the people at the U.S. southern border are seeking asylum and humanitarian relief, especially from the countries mentioned by Biden — Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. It is legally misleading and morally wrong to call the arrival of asylum seekers ‘unlawful’ — especially when there are so few other legal pathways for them to follow.
Much needed pathways
“But America’s border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts.”
‘Why don’t they come here the right way?’ is a common refrain in discussions on U.S. immigration. The truth is, there are currently very few ‘right’ ways — and taking one can be like winning the lottery. Current U.S. immigration legislation is outdated. The U.S. Congress must pass new human rights based immigration legislation which reflects current immigration trends, particularly employment shortages, family reunification and humanitarian needs.
For example, there are currently 1.47 million refugees in need of immediate relocation, but only 3% of refugees were resettled in 2021. That means for every 540 refugees, only 1 will be resettled. Faced with these odds, many refugees choose to travel by foot or raft to seek asylum at the country’s border.
But that’s only for refugees — the odds for migrant workers or separated families can be just as dire. And even if refugees, migrant workers, family members can resettle in the U.S., a pathway towards permanent status is one more difficult obstacle to overcome — some will never have a pathway to citizenship if current legislation doesn’t change.
“If you won’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border. And a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farm workers, and essential workers.”
Legal pathways for these four groups would be a much needed relief for millions of American residents who already contribute greatly to the country.
Dreamers
Dreamers are American residents who were brought to the U.S. by their parents without regular status. Before Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) was passed by Obama in 2012, Dreamers were subject to deportation to countries of which many had no memory. The legal protection of DACA has again been called into question by a lawsuit led by nine republican states, who wish to end nearly 600,000 Dreamers’ work permits and subject them anew to deportation. The tenuous legal protections of Dreamers demonstrate the fragility of temporary status without pathways to citizenship.
Temporary status
Dreamers are just one example of people in the U.S. on a temporary status. Almost 355,000 are in the U.S. for temporary protection from instability in their countries of origin, such as Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia or Venezuela. The number of individuals admitted to the US on a temporary basis grew exponentially in the last year due to Operation Allies Welcome, which saw over 77,000 Afghans paroled into the US, and the popular Uniting for Ukraine program, which welcomed over 100,000 Ukranians. While temporary status provides recipients with much needed protection, it is difficult for them to plan their futures and must live in constant worry of when they will be forced to return to their home countries, safe or not.
Farm workers
In order to continue to feed America, consumers and the government must recognize the crucial role immigrants play in agriculture. The USDA estimates roughly half of all farmworkers do not have authorized status and research reveals half of undocumented immigrants have lived in the US for over 10 years. It is clear we rely on immigrant farmworkers, regardless of status, but a labor deficit remains. As Congress closed its 117th session, the Ag Workforce Coalition pushed for action to help alleviate the labor deficit and reform guest worker programs. In addition to reforming guest worker programs, like the H-2A visa program, the consideration of new legislation to allow long-term undocumented immigrants residing in the country the ability to adjust status would benefit the US economy and the crucial immigrant workforce. Undocumented workers are at greater risk for exploitation and labor abuses; they navigate those risks while keeping agriculture running, paying taxes, and contributing to the economy. We should not risk the dignity of farmworkers by continuing to rely on their labor while profiting off their precarious status. Eliminating this precarious status would also help stabilize the US economy.
Essential workers
It is estimated that nearly 1 in 5 essential workers in the U.S. are immigrants, filling necessary roles in the medical, agricultural, transportation and food industries. Many of these essential workers serve in frontline positions, which placed them at a much higher risk of contracting Covid-19, while so many others were able to shelter at home. Yet, despite experiencing disproportionate economic hardship, high numbers of immigrant workers dying of Covid-19, and becoming the targets of discrimination, 5.2 million essential workers are undocumented. The immigration policy organization FWD.us states: “It is a moral failure to call undocumented immigrants ‘essential’ while failing to provide them with legal status.”
What should have been in Biden’s SOTU address…
Often what is not said speaks volumes. Biden could have shared positive immigration policies from the last year, such as Uniting for Ukraine or protections for migrant worker whistleblowers who reveal abusive and fraudulent employers. He could have highlighted the personal story of a DACA recipient or migrant essential worker. But he instead framed immigration largely as a security threat, and only mentioned in quick passing his hopes for congressional support to pass legal pathways for Dreamers and those on temporary protection, migrant workers and essential workers.
It is impossible to please everyone in one State of the Union address, but by dedicating only seven sentences to immigration — and using those sentences to portray immigration as a security threat — Biden showed that he himself sees the border as a threat and the possibility for passing immigration reform and humanitarian pathways slim.
