'Legal authority': Senate Dems demand Biden extend protections for illegal immigrants ahead of Trump admin
President Biden is facing increasing pressure from Senate Democrats to make a last-minute move to extend protections from deportations for some illegal immigrants, before the incoming Trump administration launches a mass deportation operation next year.
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., held a press conference this week with immigration activists to renew calls to urge Biden to make moves for illegal immigrants currently protected by Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
TPS allows nationals who are living in the U.S. and are from countries designated unsafe for them to return to, to obtain work permits and be shielded from deportation. DACA is a 2012 Obama-era executive order that allowed for some illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to remain in the country free from deportation.
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The incoming Trump administration is expected to allow TPS to expire for many countries, as it attempted to do in the first administration. Republicans have been deeply critical of the use of TPS, accusing the Biden administration of abusing the tool. A bill introduced by Sen.-elect Jim Banks in the House would restrict TPS designations by requiring Congress to approve them for 12-month terms, and requiring additional moves by Congress to extend them.
However, Trump has expressed willingness to make a deal with Democrats to allow DACA recipients to remain in the U.S.
"I will work with the Democrats on a plan, and if we can come up with a plan, but the Democrats have made it very, very difficult to do anything. Republicans are very open to the Dreamers. The Dreamers, we're talking many years ago. They were brought into this country many years ago, some of them are no longer young people, and in many cases, they become successful," Trump said this week.
But Trump’s campaign was defined by a promise to launch a mass deportation campaign, and with that looming, Democrats want Biden to act before it takes effect.
"The president has legal authority to act to give these long-term immigrant communities certainty, and he should use it," Cortez Masto said at the press conference.
"We know the incoming administration is going to try to implement chaotic immigration policies that tear our families apart," she said.
She was also skeptical of Trump’s promise to protect DACA administration, given what she said were his actions in the first Trump administration: "We brought him a bipartisan bill to protect our Dreamers -- he killed it."
"President Biden, you have the chance to cement your legacy on the economy as well as your humanitarian legacy, use this moment to protect long-term immigrants and strengthen our nation’s economy," Padilla said.
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The press conference came days after a letter from Democrats led by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., which expressed "deep concern about the threat the incoming administration poses to immigrants in our communities."
"We write now because the window to secure and finalize your administration’s policies is closing rapidly. We urge you to act decisively between now and the inauguration of the President-elect to complete the important work of the past four years and protect immigrant families," they said.
So far, there have been no indications that Biden is planning any such action on DACA. TPS extensions and redesignations are typically announced by the Department of Homeland Security. The White House did not respond to requests for comments from Fox News Digital.
The Trump administration pushed unsuccessfully to end DACA, being blocked by the Supreme Court. The matter remains in court, with a lawsuit challenging the legality of the policy under review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
In 2019, Trump proposed an additional three years of protection for DACA recipients and others in exchange for money to build a wall along the southern border. Democrats rejected that deal as "hostage taking."