WASHINGTON — A trio of House progressives is forming a task force to revise the national constitution immigration discussion away from the authorities on it southern border and to address the root causes of migration to the United States
The new Congressional Global Caucus on Global Migration will be co-chaired by Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Greg Casar, D-Texas, and Sidney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif. One one page memofirst reported by NBC News, Democrats say families around the world are facing global “violence, civil wars, human rights abuses, democratic retreat, economic isolation, climate instability.”
But instead of tightening rules to detain asylum seekers, they suggest examining “the factors and conditions that move or motivate people to migrate to the United States” and develop domestic and foreign policy solutions that reduce people’s need to migrate. The caucus says it plans to hold quarterly events, including “roundtables, briefings, specially commissioned speeches, shadow hearings.” [and] A public toolkit to encourage Congress to take meaningful action.
“We Democrats have done a terrible job of talking about immigration and actually talking about the root causes of migration,” Ramirez said in an interview. “Instead of moving in a direction that positions Congress as an effective ally in global efforts to create a safer, more just world where people don’t have to come to the United States, we have been reactive and apologetic.”
The new caucus, which includes the 14 founding members of the House, comes at a time when immigration has become a major liability. President Joe Biden he pushed the White House and moderate Democrats to do so during his bid for re-election this year accept some conservative suggestions for Tighten US border and asylum laws. Former President Donald Trump called for a fight against immigration when he was running for the presidency. Progressives who attacked immigration policy a decade ago are now on the back foot and urging their parties not to accept the GOP attitude requires a more restrictive system.
Ramirez and Casar said the U.S. should try to reduce the need for migration with policies such as increasing humanitarian aid, avoiding destabilizing sanctions against countries like Venezuela, and tightening gun laws to prevent Mexican gangs and cartels from using U.S. firearms to fuel violence at home.
“At the moment, most of the conversation on the Hill is about the border, as if immigration starts at the border, it doesn’t. It starts in people’s own countries,” Kasar said. “And almost nobody talks about it.
“When I recently met with the ambassador from Mexico, the first thing he brought up was that most of the weapons they’re seizing from the cartels are from the United States,” Casar said. “And a lot of them are from Texas, because in Texas you can buy a rifle without a background check and without a license. … The United States must ensure that we work to avoid contributing to further violence and destabilization in Mexico.”
Republicans argue that the U.S. border is overflowing with more asylum seekers than it can process because Biden has rolled back Trump’s policies to curb migration. Democratic leaders are aware of the polls Show the GOP to be more reliable on immigration, they recognized the need for a higher bar for seeking asylum. But the new members of the House of Representatives disagree.
When asked why immigration policy has drifted to the right, Ramirez blamed, in part, the “great replacement” conspiracy theory advocated by the far right. fringe and some members of Congress. He claims, without justification, that a liberal cabal is using immigration policy and other means to replace white voters with non-white voters in favor of Democrats.
“There’s a real belief that white people have been replaced and that all of us who come to this country have to do whatever it takes to survive,” Ramirez said, adding that Republicans have “decided on immigration and asylum seekers” to either win the White House or destabilize the Democrats. would be the No. 1 strategy,” and said his party has not done enough to counter that narrative.
Three MPs are waiting for an important task. In July 2021, the White House appointed Vice President Kamala Harris as part of the “Root Causes Strategy” to address the major crises driving migration in Central America. But that didn’t work as the US asylum system was further squeezed.
“With this group, we are sending the message that Democrats want to solve the global migration crisis. This crisis is a foreign policy issue that goes beyond the southern border,” Kamlager-Dove said.