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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
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21 Jan, 11 tweets, 4 min read
Sitting down to work for the first day of the Biden presidency is a surreal feeling.

So much happened yesterday. I'm going to collect my threads here on yesterday's big immigration news.

First, we got key details of Biden's big immigration bill.

1/11
Once Biden had officially taken office, we got the first major action. As part of a standard transition process, the Biden White House froze all regulations which Trump had been trying to finalize at the last hour. I did a thread on what we escaped.

2/11
Last night we started getting more changes. One of the first was an order telling CBP to stop putting people into the so-called "Migrant Protection Protocols," a cruel program that's left thousands in a dangerous limbo. But there's still more to do!

3/11
After that, we began getting the text of immigration executive orders. The first one put onto the White House's website was the order ending the Muslim Ban/Africa Ban and ordering the State Department to come up with a plan for reconsidering denials.

4/11
The next immigration executive order put on the White House's website revoked a Trump executive order from January 26, 2017 which made all undocumented immigrants a priority for deportation and directed a DHS-wide review of immigration enforcement.

5/11
The third immigration executive order released last night revoked Trump's illegal and unconstitutional executive order calling on the Census to exclude undocumented immigrants from the apportionment of House districts.

6/11
The fourth immigration executive order released last night ordered the DHS Secretary and the AG to take steps to "protect and fortify" DACA, which is needed to protect the program should a federal judge in Texas strike it down in the next few weeks.

7/11
The fifth immigration executive order released last night (which I accidentally called the final one) extended "Deferred Enforced Departure" for thousands of Liberians whose status had expired just days earlier under Trump.

8/11
The sixth and final immigration executive order signed and released last night ordered a halt to all construction on the border wall within 7 days, followed by a review of all construction contracts and the creation of a plan to redirect wall funds.

9/11
After all the executive orders, we thought that would be it for the night. But just after 10:30 we finally got the long-promised 100-day deportation moratorium, which is set to go into effect on Friday. I broke it down in this thread.

10/11

In total, there were 9 major immigration actions taken yesterday. While some of them will have no immediate effect, they were all a powerful first step towards undoing the damage done by Trump.

We still expect more executive orders next Friday, January 29th. So stay tuned!

/fin

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More from @ReichlinMelnick

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
22 Jan
On Tuesday, President Trump ordered DHS to grant temporary status to thousands of Venezuelans for 18 months.

On Wednesday, Biden paused deportations for 100 days.

Both of those actions violate the illegal contract signed with Texas. But guess which one Paxton is suing about? 🤔
Here's a copy of the TRO. It claims that "Texas faces irreparable harm from having to provide costly educational, social, welfare, healthcare, and other services to illegal aliens who remain in Texas because Defendants have ceased removing them."

courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… Image
Here is a full copy of the agreement between DHS and the State of Texas.

It was signed by Ken Cuccinelli on behalf of DHS—which, given the fact that he was unlawfully appointed to his job means the entire agreement is null and void on that ground alone.

courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Read 8 tweets
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
22 Jan
Two days ago, President Biden told DHS not to place anyone else into the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as Remain in Mexico.

Our new fact sheet explains the current status of MPP and offers urgent recommendations for how Biden should get people out of Mexico.
Now that President Biden has fulfilled the first part of his promise to end MPP, there are still thousands of people waiting south of the border in a dangerous limbo.

We suggest a staggered admissions process that could quickly and safely #LetThemIn. americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/migra…
Under the staggered admissions process, individuals who have been waiting the longest in MPP would be prioritized for readmission, along with vulnerable individuals who cannot wait any longer. We believe this is the most fair way to address operational challenges. Under this staggered admiss...
Read 4 tweets
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
21 Jan
And it begins—NPR uses an inflammatory picture of a caravan that was broken up days ago for a story about a deportation moratorium that only applies to those here months ago and a policy reversal that wouldn't have affected almost all of the caravan even if they had made it here.
Editors who draft headlines and choose pictures for stories, please, I beg you, these small choices matter a LOT.

I guarantee you that 99% of the people who saw this tweet did not click the story, and as a result will leave with a completely false opinion about what happened.
For those curious, the "migrant caravan" is almost totally broken up. As of last night, ~4,000 out of 7,200 people recorded as entering Guatemala have already returned to Honduras. That's up from 3,000 reported on Tuesday—so that number will keep climbing.
Read 4 tweets
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
21 Jan
It seems like we WILL get details about the moratorium tonight. It begins on Friday! 🎊

Few details other than: "For 100 days, starting January 22, 2021, DHS will pause removals for certain noncitizens ordered deported."

"Certain" is not yet defined.
Going back and deleting my previous tweets about not getting the deportation moratorium tonight!
Very important to note that tonight's deportation moratorium is ONLY a moratorium on deportation.

The new memo says that "DHS will continue to enforce our immigration laws." That means arrests and likely detentions will continue for now.

More details to come in the next days.
Read 8 tweets
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
21 Jan
🎊We have our first immigration EO and it's the order ending the Muslim Ban/Africa Ban!

The Bans "are a stain on our national conscience and are inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all."

whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…
Biden revokes the original Muslim Ban and all three Proclamations extending it.

That lifts restrictions on immigrant visas against:
- Burma
- Eritrea
- Iran
- Kyrgzstan
- Libya
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Yemen
Biden also directs the State Department to immediately resume visa processing of all people subject to the Muslim Ban/African Ban, as well as come up with a plan within 45 days to not only reconsider all previous visa denials but also to consider how to expedite applications.
Read 4 tweets
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
20 Jan
This is a standard order issued following every transition, but today it feels so important because of how many horrific things were in the pipeline.

Here's a brief thread about some of the terrible anti-immigration regulations that didn't make it across the finish line.

1/
First, we just BARELY escaped a new regulation severely restricting the H-1B program in many ways which the experts on business immigration have assured me were pretty illegal anyway.

It had already been sent to the Federal Register last week.

2/
We also just barely escaped a dystopian rule that would have expanded biometric collection for all immigration benefits to even the US citizen family members—and impose "continuous vetting" on immigrants.

It cleared White House review last week.

3/
Read 9 tweets

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