The 2020 presidential election was perhaps the most contentious, nerve-wracking political contest the United States has seen in its history. With the country more polarized than ever, Americans all across the country have contested the validity of the election results, even taking to the Capitol to physically disrupt the lawful confirmation of Joseph Biden as POTUS. Over the past year of his term, the nation has witnessed just how much Conservatives detest the Biden administration’s policy agenda and hopes of steamrolling it through their very real chances of taking back Congress following the 2022 midterms.
But, what about those who do support Biden? Has he lived up to the policies he stood by during his campaign and satisfied the majority of the electorate that propelled him to office on the promise of implementing this progressive legislation? The short answer is, not quite.
Specifically, one of the most popular policy initiatives from Biden on the campaign trail was to allow for more immigrants to gain legal status in America, as well as cut down on the brutal practice of immigration detention. As of recently, it seems that he’s been moving in the opposite direction. Let’s examine his immigration detention record this past year.
Since Biden took office, capacity at immigration detention centers has increased by over 50% despite the President rolling back many of the Trump-era policies that allowed for the immediate arrest of any undocumented immigrant. The population in facilities in October of 2021 was over 22,000, accounting for an overall 56% increase. Despite Biden directing ICE to focus on detaining the undocumented immigrants with credible threats to public safety tied to their names, approximately 75% of detainees have no criminal record.
Contrary to what Biden has asserted throughout his campaign and even in office, his administration has actually gone after states that tried to ban the private detention of undocumented individuals. The Biden administration in late 2021 joined the former Trump administration in suing California to repeal AB 32, banning private detention, amid private companies kickstarting attempts to re-populate facilities despite the risk of exacerbating existing COVID-19 outbreaks, leaving detainees vulnerable to infection.
Amid an unprecedented border crisis during the, perhaps it was convenient to turn to detention as an option, but this should not be enough to give Biden the benefit of the doubt. Make no mistake, innocent people are still suffering.
The chilling reality is that there were reports that the Biden administration was looking at Guantanamo Bay prisons (an institution notorious for illegal, inhumane torture practices) as a possible location to place Haitian migrants that fled to the southern border, despite the denial of these claims. And, this past year, COVID cases have been higher in centers than when Trump was in office, which shows clear neglect as cases should not have been that high so far into the pandemic.
So, it seems that the POTUS has not been living up to his promises this past year. But here’s where the “quite” in not quite comes in as we head into the thick of 2022.
Recently, the administration is looking to cut funding for 25% of immigration detention beds in facilities to 25,000 total, down from 34,000 in the previous years. It has expressed a commitment to seeking alternatives to detention, involving more house arrest-based practices instead. Last month, the administration also publicized its severance with an Alabama detention facility as well as the reduced use of 3 others citing poor-quality conditions. Another surprising move by Biden was his quiet ending of detaining immigrant families this year, which has historically been a popular practice within the detention system.
Taking all of this into consideration, the consensus is that 2021 was most certainly a shaky year for Biden in terms of making good on his policy agenda on immigration, but it does seem like there is at least a sliver of hope for 2022. With 8 months left in the year, the nation has yet to see if the administration can actually kickstart some tangible change on this issue.
