Biden is repeating Bush and Obama's immigration mistake


President Biden's decision to deport the Haitian migrants surging over America's southern border is needlessly cruel. It's also not what he promised to do.
Biden campaigned pledging to create a "fair and humane" immigration system that would "preserve the dignity of immigrant families, refugees, and asylum-seekers." Instead, he'll send desperate Haitians back to their home country, despite it being wracked by political violence and still reeling from a devastating earthquake.
Some have argued these deportations are necessary for reform efforts to succeed. "I am extremely pro-immigration," writer Matthew Yglesias tweeted Saturday, "but I don't think you create a durable pro-immigration politics by stigmatizing all efforts to enforce immigration law." Josh Barro, an Insider columnist, agreed. "In fact, demonstrating that we can enforce the rules we make is essential to convincing people to agree to more permissive rules," he wrote.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That's probably not true. Would-be reformers have already tried and failed to build support for their agendas through immigration crackdowns. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama both sent National Guard troops to the border. Bush also wanted to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented migrants, while Obama hoped to give "DREAMers" a permanent status in this country. In each case, immigration hawks in Congress blocked the reform despite the crackdown. Given the recent conservative outcry against refugees from Afghanistan, there isn't much reason to think Biden's crackdown will end differently.
Reform would be popular, however. Polls have long demonstrated Americans have a generally favorable view of immigration, and support for more immigration has actually increased in recent decades. In 2007 and again in 2013, there were Senate majorities backing dramatic reform bills. A filibuster killed the first effort; House Republicans the second. Immigration opponents may not be a majority, but they are effective at digging in their heels: They egged on former President Donald Trump's unpopular decision to shut down the government in late 2018 because Congress wouldn't fund his proposed border wall. They'll be equally obstinate with Biden.
So, no, this new round of deportations likely won't usher in more "permissive rules." It won't give us fairer or more humane immigration policy. It will only add to human misery.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.
-
Book reviews: ‘Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America’ and ‘How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978–1998’
Feature A political ‘witch hunt’ and Helen Garner’s journal entries
By The Week US Published
-
The backlash against ChatGPT's Studio Ghibli filter
The Explainer The studio's charming style has become part of a nebulous social media trend
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Why are student loan borrowers falling behind on payments?
Today's Big Question Delinquencies surge as the Trump administration upends the program
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Trump sends more migrants to El Salvador jail
Speed Read Another 17 Venezuelan alleged gang members have been deported to a notorious prison
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Venezuelan deportees: Locked up for tattoos?
Feature A former pro soccer player was deported after U.S. authorities claimed his tattoo proved he belonged to a Venezuelan gang
By The Week US Published
-
'We should end this betrayal of man's best friend'
Instant Opinion 'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What is Starmer's £33m plan to smash 'vile' Channel migration gangs?
Today's Big Question PM lays out plan to tackle migration gangs like international terrorism, with cooperation across countries and enhanced police powers
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Americans deserve immigration officials who are transparent about what they do and why'
instant opinion 'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Judge: Nazis treated better than Trump deportees
speed read U.S. District Judge James Boasberg reaffirmed his order barring President Donald Trump from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump's TPS takedown
Feature The president plans to deport a million immigrants with protected status. What effects will that have?
By The Week US Published