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Democrats tough on immigration bill ‘Dead on Arrival,’ surprisingly stymied by Republicans
The proposed measure ends “catch and release,” effectively denying asylum to those who show up on the US border, including thousands of Punjabis.
Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, his wife Vaishaliben Patel, their daughter Vihangi Patel, and their son (not shown) froze to death while trying to cross the US border in Canada. / (Royal Canadian Mounted Police photo)
An election year, ‘tough on immigration’ bill supported by Senate Democrats, has been stymied by Republicans, who have characterized the measure “dead on arrival,” and unlikely to see a floor vote.
As the 2024 Presidential election takes shape, immigration — always a hot button issue — has taken center stage, with Republicans accusing the Biden Administration of letting thousands of migrants daily pass through unsecured borders. In an unprecedented move, House Republicans attempted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for failing to lock down the US-Mexico border, through which most migrants seeking asylum arrive. The move to impeach Mayorkas failed Feb. 6 on a floor vote.
One of the most concerning aspects of the legislation is ending the policy known as “catch and release.” That policy allows border officials to make a determination on whether a migrant has a plausible asylum claim, and allows them to be released to the community until their asylum case is heard, as an alternative to remaining in Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention.
In an interview on “Face the Nation” Feb. 4, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a former Democrat who is now Independent, said: “Right now, individuals who want to come to America to seek the American dream, to find work, those are what we call economic migrants. Our new law will ensure that they can't get into the country. They will be turned away and sent back to their home countries, because they currently are exploiting the asylum system.”
Ending “catch and release” would pose extreme hardship to thousands of Indians, many of whom travel for six months or more, often on foot, before arriving at the US border, either in Canada or Mexico. Last year, almost 97,000 Indians arrived at the border seeking asylum, according to data from Customs and Border Patrol. The numbers are steadily rising: in 2020, there were just under 20,000. Indian migrants seeking asylum in the US pay upwards of Rs. 60 lakhs to 1 crore to smugglers who help them make the journey.
The majority of Indian asylum seekers are from Punjab. But this is changing. In January 2023, a Gujarati family from Dingucha froze to death while illegally trying to cross the US border in Canada.
The requirements for asylum claims would be toughened with the proposed bill. And those few deemed eligible for asylum would be held in ICE detention until their case is heard.
The bill would nominally benefit Indians by adding 18,000 employment-based green cards annually from 2025 through 2029. It will also increase family-based green cards in preference categories by 32,000 in that same time period. However, 1.5 million Indians with approved green card applications are currently stuck in a several decades-long queue, because of per-country caps, a policy that allows only 7 percent of green cards to be distributed to citizens from any country per year.
“There is nothing to love in this bill and nothing to hate in this bill,” tweeted immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta.
“The Senate bill to destroy asylum in exchange for foreign aid funding is outrageous, immoral, and ineffective,” said the organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice in a statement. “President Biden has signaled that he will sign this bill if it is passed and will use it to ‘shut down the border,’ an abdication of his responsibilities to those he governs and to human dignity,” wrote AAJC.
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