Senior Democrats on Capitol Hill begged President Biden on Tuesday to announce new deportation amnesties for as many countries as possible before he leaves office, saying they fear what President-elect Donald Trump could do to “immigrant families.”
Led by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, the lawmakers also urged Mr. Biden to speed up asylum claims and automatically renew work permits for unauthorized migrants who are here under temporary amnesties.
“We write now because the window to secure and finalize your administration’s policies is closing rapidly,” the senators said in their letter. “We urge you to act decisively between now and the inauguration of the president-elect to complete the important work of the past four years and protect immigrant families.”
They urged Mr. Biden to flex unilateral powers such as Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure, both of which grant up to 18 months of amnesty from deportation for illegal immigrants.
Those tools are supposed to be used in cases where someone’s home country is suffering unrest or a disaster that makes it unsafe to return, but immigration advocates have come to see the two powers as bulwarks against Mr. Trump’s promises of “mass” deportations.
Mr. Biden has already been generous in his use of TPS.
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In early 2021, at the end of Mr. Trump’s first term, there were roughly 320,000 people in the U.S. under TPS. That number is now more than 860,000, according to the Congressional Research Service.
In their letter Tuesday, the senators also asked Mr. Biden to push through as many renewals under the Obama-era DACA program for illegal immigrant “Dreamers,” saying they deserve at least a couple more years of certainty about their status.
And the lawmakers urged the Biden administration to issue a rule that would allow DACA recipients to gain what’s known as “advance parole.” That allows them to leave the country and return — which then puts them in line for a pathway to citizenship.
Democrats and liberal activists have been urging Mr. Biden to do as much as he can to “Trump-proof” the government by locking in protections for illegal immigrants and pushing out as much cash as possible before Mr. Trump can stop the spending.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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