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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: No. 1 question when Trump was elected: “don’t you know Obama deported as many people?” (Yes, I did know). No. 1 question now that Biden is elected: “isn’t it all fixed now that Trump is gone?” Umm, no. Let me explain (thread)
We’ve been stopping the bleeding for four long, dark, difficult years. It was about resisting, pushing back, doing everything we could to mitigate the damage. Now? Now we roll our sleeves up and get to work.
First - there is a lot to be undone, some of which has already happened and some that will take time. Exec orders halting green card processing for people abroad, new requirements that significantly slow down processing times in the US, higher application fees, to name a few
And we need to rebuild an asylum system for people who came here asking for protection and were turned away. Not to mention somehow overcoming the irreparable harm of family separation - how does anyone really recover?
There are over two million cases in immigration courts nationwide. The vast majority are trying to figure out what comes next without a lawyer (because - no right to a lawyer in immigration). How do we explain to all those folx what to say when their cases are called up.
And of course, the federal work force has been decimated. How we do we increase numbers of refugees if the entire refugee officer corps got new jobs when their government ones became unnecessary? As one example.
And finally - how do we get immigrant communities to trust us again? We convinced DACA recipients to apply and the government tried to use that information against them. They’ve been on the frontlines of the COVID fight and we’ve left them with no resources or aid.
Not to mention how do we free the tens of thousands of immigrants imprisoned, with no right to a lawyer and no criminal conviction, in private prisons around the country.
None of this even approaches what we need to do to (1) explain to people there is now legalization right now and (2) getting them ready to apply - for legalization, for protections from deportation, for other programs - when the time does come.
A time which won’t come unless we don’t stop fighting. And litigating. And reminding our elected officials that they made promises on the campaign trails and we intend to make sure they keep them.
And these are just the few things that come to mind on the Friday night after a week that’s lasted 30 days. So yes, we’re just starting. And if you’ve spent four years talking about how revolted you were at what was happening, then I hope you’ll join us now to keep on going.
