Regional Focus: US Immigration Policy under a New Administration

With the election of a new US president, there is plenty of hope that the Biden/Harris administration will undertake dramatic changes to immigration and asylum policy and reverse many of Trump's executive orders. But immigration advocates also caution that undoing the "invisible wall" built up over the last four years will take time. Here are some thoughts on what we might expect, as well as recommendations for the incoming administration:

• At the Starting Gate: The Incoming Biden Administration’s Immigration Plans (Migration Policy Institute) [text]
• "Building Immigration Policy Back Better," Chapter in What’s the Big Idea? Recommendations for Improving Law & Policy in the Next Administration and in the States (American Constitution Soc.) [text]
• Can Biden Make Impactful Immigration Reform? (ImmigrationProf Blog) [text]
• Immigration in a Biden Administration (ImmigrationProf Blog) [text]
• Improving the U.S. Immigration System in the First Year of the Biden Administration (Center for Migration Studies) [text]
• Podcast: What is Immigration Policy Expected to Look Like in a Biden Administration?, 9 Nov. 2020 [access]
• Reforming the Immigration System: A Brief Outline (CATO Institute) [text]
• Safety for all: Responding to the humanitarian crisis in Central America, restoring the U.S. asylum system, and protecting the most vulnerable (International Rescue Committee) [text]
• "Some Big, Early Shifts on Immigration Expected under Biden," AP News, 11 Nov. 2020 [text]
• "Upholding Refugee Protection and Asylum at Home," Chapter 3 in Walking the Talk: 2021 Blueprints for a Human Rights-Centered U.S. Foreign Policy (Human Rights First) [text]
• A Vision for America as a Welcoming Nation: AILA Recommendations for the Future of Immigration  [text]