Sitting down to work for the first day of the Biden presidency is a surreal feeling.

So much happened yesterday. I'm going to collect my threads here on yesterday's big immigration news.

First, we got key details of Biden's big immigration

Once Biden had officially taken office, we got the first major action. As part of a standard transition process, the Biden White House froze all regulations which Trump had been trying to finalize at the last hour. I did a thread on what we escaped.

2/11
https://t.co/vOnC6vt7JN
Last night we started getting more changes. One of the first was an order telling CBP to stop putting people into the so-called "Migrant Protection Protocols," a cruel program that's left thousands in a dangerous limbo. But there's still more to do!

3/11
https://t.co/3baOWMGAV8
After that, we began getting the text of immigration executive orders. The first one put onto the White House's website was the order ending the Muslim Ban/Africa Ban and ordering the State Department to come up with a plan for reconsidering denials.

4/11
https://t.co/XlvL6Ky0U5
The next immigration executive order put on the White House's website revoked a Trump executive order from January 26, 2017 which made all undocumented immigrants a priority for deportation and directed a DHS-wide review of immigration enforcement.

5/11
https://t.co/DA0JusmhnK
The third immigration executive order released last night revoked Trump's illegal and unconstitutional executive order calling on the Census to exclude undocumented immigrants from the apportionment of House districts.

6/11
https://t.co/vZVG2Gp0IP
The fourth immigration executive order released last night ordered the DHS Secretary and the AG to take steps to "protect and fortify" DACA, which is needed to protect the program should a federal judge in Texas strike it down in the next few weeks.

7/11 https://t.co/PgR3fQyFU5
The fifth immigration executive order released last night (which I accidentally called the final one) extended "Deferred Enforced Departure" for thousands of Liberians whose status had expired just days earlier under Trump.

8/11
https://t.co/LRBY470Hdc
The sixth and final immigration executive order signed and released last night ordered a halt to all construction on the border wall within 7 days, followed by a review of all construction contracts and the creation of a plan to redirect wall funds.

9/11
https://t.co/6dBG4oNDuS
After all the executive orders, we thought that would be it for the night. But just after 10:30 we finally got the long-promised 100-day deportation moratorium, which is set to go into effect on Friday. I broke it down in this thread.

10/11

https://t.co/hE0OEDCKPz
In total, there were 9 major immigration actions taken yesterday. While some of them will have no immediate effect, they were all a powerful first step towards undoing the damage done by Trump.

We still expect more executive orders next Friday, January 29th. So stay tuned!

/fin

More from Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

We finally have the U.S. Citizenship Act Bill Text! I'm going to go through some portions of the bill right now and highlight some of the major changes and improvements that it would make to our immigration system.

Thread:


First the Bill makes a series of promises changes to the way we talk about immigrants and immigration law.

Gone would be the term "alien" and in its place is "noncitizen."

Also gone would be the term "alienage," replaced with "noncitizenship."


Now we get to the "earned path to citizenship" for all undocumented immigrants present in the United States on January 1, 2021.

Under this bill, anyone who satisfies the eligibility criteria for a new "lawful prospective immigrant status" can come out of the shadows.


So, what are the eligibility criteria for becoming a "lawful prospective immigrant status"? Those are in a new INA 245G and include:

- Payment of the appropriate fees
- Continuous presence after January 1, 2021
- Not having certain criminal record (but there's a waiver)


After a person has been in "lawful prospective immigrant status" for at least 5 years, they can apply for a green card, so long as they still pass background checks and have paid back any taxes they are required to do so by law.

However! Some groups don't have to wait 5 years.

More from Biden

I got overnight via email a query from @briansflood at Fox News, the principal part of which I reproduce below. I answered by email too. I'll append that reply in the next threaded tweet:


My reply:


Hunter Biden's dubious business activities have been reported for years. Here for example is @TheAtlantic in September 2019, year *before* @nypost
https://t.co/qZBTpyuysM


That emails attributed to Hunter Biden were circulating was also known well before the NYPost story in October. Here's TIME magazine https://t.co/JvpEKdG0U4


What @NYPost added to the work earlier done by others was a new *origin* story for the materials that circulated in Ukraine in 2019. When other media organizations attempted to corroborate that story, hijinx ensued. https://t.co/ZJGZWq7etU @thedailybeast account
1. Ben Rhodes’s comment dismissing the concerns of former political prisoners and US hostages in Iran regarding Rob Malley’s potential appointment as Iran envoy is deeply unprofessional and offensive. As my own story illustrates, not everything is about partisan DC politics.


2. In 2016 I was a Princeton graduate student who excitedly supported the JCPOA and the new era of Iran-US diplomacy it was meant to usher. Such was my optimism that I actually went to Iran for dissertation research. That’s when my nightmare began.

3. I was arrested by Iranian security forces and held hostage in Evin prison-away from my wife and infant son-for more than 3 years. The regime knew I was innocent and told me so. It took me 40 months in Evin to comprehend what had happened to me.

4. As a political prisoner I’ve likely had more intensive contact with Iranian hardliners than most Iran watchers in the US, especially US govt officials like Mr. Rhodes and Malley. I believe the insights derived from that experience have a unique value.

5. I support strengthening the nuclear deal, but am convinced the JCPOA of 2015 is well-intended yet inadequate. Simply lifting pressure against Iran and allowing it to benefit from economic integration produced NO further incentive for the regime to change its behavior.

You May Also Like