Article “BIDEN TO DO LIST – TWO VERY IMPORTANT ITEMS”

As published in the Immigration Daily on January 4, 2021

Before he is inaugurated, Joe Biden should appoint an immigration advisor who has his ear the same way that Stephen Miller has had Donald Trump’s ear during the past four years. The damage to the field of immigration and to humanity that such a close association has had – an appalling number of executive orders, regulations, interpretations, and guidances to the agencies charged with overseeing the border, points of entry, adjudications, immigration court procedures and decisions – can only be undone by a Stephen Miller clone with opposite views and energy who is close to the president. The influence that he has had with the president has been complete including a hand in over 400 immigration executive actions identified by the Migration Policy Institute by July 2020.

On day one of his presidency, Joe Biden should put a freeze on all federal regulations which have not already been implemented. An excellent article by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) on December 9, 2020, “Trump Policies That May Be Finalized before Inauguration Day 2021” listed a number of regulations that the current administration wishes to finalize before leaving office. Some of them at this point have already been implemented. A portion from the article follows:

The sacrificed lives and continued toll on legal and undocumented immigrants, US citizens and permanent resident parents, children, brothers and sisters, US companies, innovation and the economy demand such attention from Day 1.

Without an immediate freeze, implemented regulations are harder to retract, especially without control of the Senate. At least some of the above proposed regulations will still be floating around on Inauguration Day. The Congressional Review Act (CRA) could eliminate the implemented regulations by simple resolution, but require a majority of both houses of Congress. With Mitch McConnell in charge of the Senate, that will not happen. January 5, 2021, will determine control of the Senate dependent upon the results of the two senatorial contests in Georgia.

Without an advisor solely dedicated to immigration changes and working hand-in-hand with the president, four years will not undo the damage of the last four years. So far, we have seen two cabinet picks, Susan Rice and Alejandro N. Mayorkas, whose roles impact on immigration. As the Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Ms. Rice is to have an expanded role over the administration’s approach to immigration, healthcare, and racial equality. Mr. Mayorkas in his post of Secretary of Homeland Security is directly charged with governing that huge agency of which there are 16 separate agencies including FEMA, the TSA, US Coast Guard, US Secret Service, and Office of the Inspector General. Their portfolios are too large to get down to the brass tacks that the job requires to reverse the work of Trump/Miller. As described in thebulwark.com article, “Uninstalling Stephen Miller,” on December 17, 2020,

As a senior advisor to the president, Miller used his position to focus on immigration while avoiding the congressional scrutiny to which agency officials are subject. Miller frequently circumvented department heads, opting instead to call lower-level staff to implement his orders, reportedly telling them things like “This is the most important thing you will do at your agency.” Without looping in cabinet secretaries, Miller would hold weekly meetings with their subordinates, occasionally helping get promotions for those who shared his beliefs. Even senior officials reported that they frequently felt torn between Miller and the actual head of their agency. Miller and his allies would go “out of their way to vilify all immigrants,” demanding press releases whenever a refugee or immigrant committed a gruesome crime. This tendency of Miller’s was underscored by his correspondence with officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to manufacture statistics linking immigrants to violent crime and terrorism—efforts that were the likely impetus for a misleading 2019 DOJ report claiming that immigrants now comprise 64 percent of all federal arrests, having “more than tripled,” between 1998-2018.

The job does not require someone as Machiavellian as Miller. President Biden needs a “horse whisperer” like Miller who can access the president and help coordinate immigration policy with Rice and Mayorkas. An advisor who must pass ideas through the cabinet members to get to the president would not be nearly as effective. Hopefully there will be a successful search for such a person.