Happy New Year,

The Senate rang in 2024 by continuing border negotiations after taking a break for the holidays. The Biden Administration and Senate Republican and Democratic leaders are making a bipartisan effort to reach an agreement on U.S. border policy that would address the crisis at the southern border (which is accentuated by a record number of over 300,000 encounters at the border in December).

These negotiations, which are part of a supplemental package that includes increased military aid to Ukraine, have focused largely on asylum and deportation provisions, and parole authority.

Just this week, additional immigration items have been raised, including the Afghan Adjustment Act, which could provide a pathway to permanent legal status for Afghans resettled in the U.S. as a result of the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, protections for children of immigrants working in the U.S., also known as Documented Dreamers, and work permits for eligible migrants who pass preliminary asylum interviews.

The discussions are further complicated by movement in the House towards impeaching Secretary Mayorkas, with some Republicans attributing the crisis solely to the DHS Secretary, which not only misdirects from addressing the underlying issues, but has serious implications for national security. In a recent statement, leaders from the Council on National Security and Immigration (CNSI) spoke up about this issue and urged "Congress to exert their energy on solutions that will secure our border, treat migrants with dignity, and alleviate the existing processing backlogs."   

CNSI leaders spoke further on reaching border solutions in a statement identifying policy recommendations for the border negotiations including:

• Raising the initial screening standards and assisting orderly and controlled asylum screening so decisions can be made in months, not years.
• Legislation that allows the executive branch to make national security designations to initiate large-scale parole programs and gives Congress the new right of disapproval.
• Define legalization terms and provide legal certainty for DACA recipients.
• Provide permanent status through the Afghan Adjustment Act to the 100,000 Afghans resettled in the U.S.

National Security experts are not the only leaders in the country speaking up in the midst of these negotiations. Evangelical leaders sent a letter to Congress in December, continuing to encourage bipartisan negotiations, while reminding Congressional leaders that ensuring orderly borders and respecting human dignity, by prioritizing due process and legal protections, are not mutually exclusive. Additionally, fifteen organizations representing other national security, faith, business and advocacy organizations that are part of the Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus (ANIC) have urged senators to continue to seek solutions together to fix the situation at the border.

While these decisions are being made in Congress, we still have the ability to speak up and advocate for bipartisan solutions that center human dignity and make the border more orderly. In 2024, the National Immigration Forum will continue to mobilize and advocate for such solutions, in addition to other urgent immigration priorities, such as legal pathways for migrants at the border and others residing in the U.S., such as resettled Afghans and Dreamers. I hope you’ll continue to join our advocacy efforts.

Stay hopeful and committed,

Allison

Allison Bassett
Field and Constituencies Manager
National Immigration Forum 

NEWS CLIPS TO NOTE:

WASHINGTON POST: Trump rhetoric, Republican candidates’ ads frighten immigrants in Iowa

NPR: U.S. citizens have been accidentally caught up in the Texas crackdown on migrants

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Justice Department sues Texas over immigration law

NEW YORK TIMES: Johnson Visits Border, Turning Up Heat on Biden for an Immigration Deal

CBS NEWS: U.S. border officials on track to process over 300,000 migrants in December, the highest monthly tally on record