The creation of a task force—one that lives in the State Department, *not* DHS—must NOT be seen as a usurpation of the work that’s already taking place.
The USG has unclean hands. No credibility. The job off finding parents cannot be theirs. /2
It’s hard to imagine anything more counterproductive than the idea of sending US law enforcement personnel—especially DHS—into Central American countries to search for parents whose children were years earlier ripped from their arms.
Great piece by @DLind that serves as both an explainer about the network of policies the Trump admin has adopted to end humanitarian protections along the southern border and a way to ask provocative questions about the future.
Dara divides the Democratic approach into two camps: those who view #immigration as a national security matter who embrace deterrence and those who view is as a humanitarian issue.
I'd suggest a third approach: immigration as a regulatory matter.
Dara observes that prior to the early 2010s, deterrence was an "uncontroversial strategy."
1) That's not entirely true. The US strategy of deterring (and punishing) Guatemalan & Salvadoran asylum seekers in the 1980s birthed the sanctuary movement and loads of litigation.
Grateful @kwelkernbc asked Trump first what he would do to reunite all of the families separated due to his policies.
But it's not the US government that can't find the parents of 545 children separated in 2017.
The US government refused to look. It's never looked. /2
Instead, because the US government shirked its responsibility to reunite families, a federal court appointed a steering committee of NGOs--including the @aclu and @JusticeInMotion--to do it.
That's something @JoeBiden can change on Day 1. Take responsibility. Lend a hand.
/3
But immigrants are central to any conversation about Fighting COVID-19, American Families, Race in America, Climate Change, National Security, or Leadership.
On #COVID19, millions of immigrants are working alongside Americans as essential workers to fight the pandemic.
3-in-4 undocumented workers are in jobs defined as essential by DHS itself. #ImmigrantsAreEssential
But despite the great personal sacrifices they have made, undocumented immigrants and their families--including US citizens--have been largely left out of the relief that Congress has passed to date.
Now that we have DHS's official response to the Supreme Court's #DACA decision, a few things are clear. /1 dhs.gov/sites/default/…
The Trump administration remains as fixated as ever on ending DACA AND they remain as terrified as ever at being held responsible for that decision.
The refusal to own the decision to end DACA in 2017 played a big role in the Court's decision to vacate the rescission. /2
With an election on the horizon, Trump's anti-immigrant attacks weighing him down, and control over the Senate turning on states with sizable immigrant and Latinx populations, this memo is designed to distract people from the fact that it promises an end to DACA if Trump wins. /3