Amid expectations, independent Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema revealed key details of the proposed immigration changes in the Face the Nation program. The initiative is set to end the ‘catch and release’ policy, which allows federal authorities to parole migrants who seek asylum and refer their cases to immigration courts for a judge to decide their future in the United States.
“We have seen the images on television of what is happening in Lukeville, Arizona, and in southern Texas, where large numbers of migrants have arrived at the border and are processed and in some ways released into the country, some with a summons with which they could see a judge in five, seven, 10 years (…) Our (proposal) law puts an end to that and puts an end to the practice of ‘catch and release,'” said Sinema in an interview. Sinema also explained that if successful, the bill, which will be drafted in the Senate and the House of Representatives, will involve detaining migrants and interviewing them to determine if they meet asylum requirements. Those that do not will be returned to their countries.
The proposal is expected to be a crucial element in President Joe Biden’s aim to provide more aid to Ukraine. Sinema’s announcement comes as the Senate is gearing up for a ‘test vote’ this week, but the initiative has already faced pushback from conservatives.
The bill would allocate $18.5 billion to immigration enforcement, including hiring thousands of new officers to evaluate asylum claims and hundreds of Border Patrol agents. It would also allocate $1.4 billion for shelters and services in cities that have struggled to cope with the influx of immigrants in recent months.
Sinema further explained that the bill would allow the government to ‘close’ the border in cases of a strong flow of migrants. “We demand that the government ‘shut down’ the border if that number reaches 5,000 a day,” Sinema said. “But we allow (within the bill) the government to ‘close’ the border when (that number) is only 4,000 arrivals a day.” The aim is to have the ability to ‘close’ the system when it becomes saturated, said Sinema.
In an election year, this border policy will put pressure on Biden, who has embraced the idea of strict enforcement at the border, and on the Democrats who have supported the proposal. This point was emphasized after Biden’s recent announcement that, if authorized, he would use it to “close the border.” This Democratic shift on immigration marks a departure from previous positions and guarantees that immigration remains a critical issue in the upcoming presidential elections.