Let’s Reboot Legal Immigration
Responding to a Peterborough rally sign supporting immigrants, a couple of passers-by called out their support for “Only LEGAL” immigration. They may not realize legal immigration has ground to a halt in the United States.
One example is USRAP, the Refugee Admission Program which vetted and accepted a limited number of immigration applicants for resettlement annually for 45 years. It was the formal and legal framework for the U.S. to resettle refugees, ending the previous practice of an informal, ad hoc approach. The sitting president set a fiscal year cap for admissions, which topped out at 207,000 in 1980. Biden’s cap (which he failed to reach) was 125,000. Trump suspended the program indefinitely, effectively setting an annual cap of zero for his term. He personally made exceptions for some, including 138 Afrikaners admitted directly without USRAP pre-vetting (a long process requiring many months in a third country).
Another example of legal immigration interrupted was CBP1, a vetting process expanded by Biden, with roots in Trump’s first administration. This phone app was used by some migrants in Mexico seeking asylum to schedule appointments to cross into the U.S. legally. Applicants were responsible for their own travel and the asylum-seeking process could take years. He ended the program in January. Thirty-six thousand in process found themselves in limbo.
Trump rescinded the legal status of another CBP1 919,000 immigrants previously vetted, legally admitted and compliant with the on-going asylum process. Many have been arrested by ICE, sometimes at their regular court appearances, and detained or deported with no due process.
These reversals are not making anyone safer. They are upending lives, tearing apart families and leaving employers in the lurch. Rebooting legal immigration could end the chaos and reduce pressure at our southern border.