**B Stands for Bush**

Good afternoon,

This week, former President George W. Bush published his new book -

**Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants -**a collection
of paintings and stories portraying America's immigrants and their
varied contributions to the United States. President Bush explained in
multiple

outlets

that his goal is not only to share these immigrants' stories, but to
humanize and reframe our national conversation on immigration. 

President Bush has made it clear that he has no intention of instructing
Congress on how to proceed with immigration reforms. In his Washington
Post op-ed
,
he does, however, "set forth principles for reform that can restore
confidence in an immigration system that serves both our values and our
interests." These principles include providing a path to citizenship for
Dreamers; ensuring a secure and efficient border; addressing root causes
of migration abroad; modernizing the asylum system to ensure legal
channels and timely processing for asylum-seekers; expanding legal
immigration to meet workforce needs and attract talent; and establishing
a "gradual process" for undocumented immigrants to become citizens.

Along with these principles, Mr. Bush reflected on the humbling power of
the American presidency. In an interview with CBS Evening News
'
Norah O'Donnell, he stated that "the presidency is a great learning
experience." This wisdom comes at an opportune moment for President
Biden as he faces backlash for his decision

on Friday to maintain the refugee ceiling at 15,000 - a historic low
set by the previous administration.

Leaders across the BBB network weighed in, urging the President to fix
this grave error. In a statement

from the Evangelical Immigration Table, World Relief President, Scott
Arbeiter stated, "Most evangelicals probably expected to disagree with
President Biden on some policy issues, but his campaign commitments to
rebuild the U.S. refugee resettlement program led us to believe we'd
be able to celebrate his actions in this area. We cheered announcements
in the first weeks of the new administration that a revised refugee
ceiling was forthcoming and have been actively preparing to welcome more
refugees in collaboration with local church partners. So it has been
deeply disappointing to see the signing of the presidential
determination delayed without explanation for months. It has been
particularly devastating for families whom we serve whose hopes to be
reunified with family members have been deferred. We implore the
president to follow through on his commitment immediately." 

Founding Council on National Security and Immigration
Leader and former DHS
Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention,
Elizabeth Neumann remarked, "I fear that refugees left to languish in
the queue for long periods of time could become vulnerable to bad actors
exploiting their resentment and hopelessness - creating potential
radicalization paths for the next generation of extremism and terrorist
recruits. President Biden made a promise he needs to keep. He needs to
formally raise the ceiling to signal to U.S. Refugee Admissions Program
partners and the globe that the U.S. is returning to our historic values
of being a safe haven for the most vulnerable." These powerful
statements - along with efforts from advocacy groups such as We
Welcome Refugees
 - have been
effective in reaching the administration; but it's clear we must
continue to take action until the refugee
ceiling is raised. "It's a nation that is willing to accept the
refugee or the harmed or the frightened, that, to me, is a great
nation," Mr. Bush shared with CBS News. We could not agree more, and we
urge President Biden to right this injustice. 

If you are interested in learning more about former President Bush's
paintings of immigrants - or his thoughts on bipartisan immigration
reform - the National Immigration Forum is proud to join the George W.
Bush Institute and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the
Southern Baptist Convention in sponsoring a conversation between former
President Bush, Dr. Russell Moore, and Dr. Yuval Levin on May 6th at
12:30 PM ET, moderated by our own Ali Noorani. Register here
to join us.

Stay healthy and hopeful,

Adam

**Adam Estle**
Vice President of Field and Constituencies
National Immigration Forum 

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**NEWS CLIPS TO NOTE:**

**FOX NEWS:**Border crisis: Sens. Cornyn, Sinema to introduce bipartisan
bill targeting migrant surge 

**NEW YORK** 

**TIMES:** An Early Promise Broken: Inside Biden's Reversal on
Refugees

**WASHINGTON POST:**Climate change creates migrants. Biden considers
protections.

**USA TODAY:**Supreme Court justices push back on allowing temporary
immigrants to apply for green cards

**POLITICO:**Bush pushes immigration reform as GOP sidesteps a deal on
it

**ASSOCIATED PRESS: **New migrant facilities crop up to ease crowding,
again

 

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