Now that some media are reporting that President Joe Biden would be considering granting immigration relief to certain undocumented immigrants, including the spouses of American citizens, it is good to remember that positive actions on immigration matters in the election year have borne fruit at the polls for Democrats as Barack Obama tried it in 2012 after granting DACA amid enormous political pressure and his re-election.
Biden is under pressure from various sides demanding action at the border, some calling for its closure, if necessary, and to drastically limit the asylum process. Others argue that there must be a balance and that the border can be addressed without undermining asylum laws, and at the same time legal avenues of entry must be facilitated for those with family or work ties, and work permits granted to certain undocumented immigrants, especially who have been in the United States for decades.
With Donald Trump and his Republican Party exploiting the immigration issue to stir up his base in an election year, some argue that it would be political suicide for Biden to announce measures that benefit undocumented immigrants.
But without wanting to sound like a broken record, it is important to review recent history and see how even in the midst of election-year political pressures, there are bold actions on immigration that can benefit Democrats electorally.
Obama won the presidency in 2008 promising immigration reform and won 67% of the Latino vote in his historic election. To obtain Republican “support” for said reform, Obama took more energetic measures on the border and inside the country and deported half of humanity, so much so that it earned him the nickname ‘Deporter in Chief’ from the president of UnidosUS, formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Janet Murguía.
The deportations upset Democratic lawmakers and activists, but also many Hispanic voters. There are millions of people who live in families with a mixed immigration status where there are undocumented immigrants, legal residents, and citizens who are voters.
At the same time, and in the face of inaction in Congress, the Dreamers intensified pressure on Obama to issue an executive order that would protect them from deportation and grant them work permits. The White House insisted that it could not do so.
Obama’s refusal added to his record of deportations intensified the discontent of Latino voters, particularly in key states for winning the White House. I have pointed out many that in 2012 I visited Florida, Nevada and Arizona to talk with Latino voters and the groups in charge, first of registering them and then of mobilizing them, and the common denominator was the annoyance at the broken promise, the deportations and above all, the refusal to at least protect the Dreamers.
It seems that Obama’s internal polls confirmed that he was at risk of losing support among Latinos who were part of the historic coalition of voters that catapulted him to victory in 2008. Thus, on June 15, 2012, Obama signed the executive order that created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that protects from deportation and grants work permits to those who managed to benefit before the measure was mired in legal disputes.
After launching DACA, Obama won re-election in 2012 and increased the support of the Latino vote to 71%, compared to 67% in 2008.
Biden knows all this firsthand since he was Obama’s vice president. Now in his own re-election battle, the polls place him in a close race with Trump and that means that each vote is important to prevail, especially in the key states to win the presidency and where the Latino vote is important.
And Hispanics in general, like American voters, want balanced solutions where the issue of the border is addressed in a humane and effective way, and at the same time some immigration relief is granted to those undocumented immigrants who have been living in the United States for decades, who They are essential workers and contribute to the economy with their taxes and consumption.
Pro-immigrant measures also bring benefits at the polls.