Joe Biden to Pause Border Wall Construction, Issue Protections for DACA Recipients, Roll Back Other Trump Immigration Policies

On construction of a border barrier, Biden will end an emergency declaration that allowed Trump to divert billions of dollars in military construction and payroll funds for construction of the barrier. Last week in the Rio Grande Valley, Trump made his final visit as president to the border to celebrate about 450 miles of new barrier along the nearly 2,000-mile southern border. But according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, several projects are under construction or in pre-construction phases and the fate of current or pending contracts are unclear.

Biden’s order will pause construction as his administration reviews the funding and contracting methods used.

“Bipartisan majorities in Congress refused in 2019 to fund President Trump’s plans for a massive wall along our southern border, even after he shut down the government over this issue,” the transition website states.

Immigrant rights groups have called on Biden to issue the executive orders to grant immediate protections for some groups while Congress debates the larger, more comprehensive immigration bill, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for most of the undocumented immigrants in the country if they were in the United States by the beginning of this year.

There are an estimated 1.7 million undocumented immigrants living in Texas, including about 1.2 million from Mexico, according to the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute. The Biden proposal calls for granting five-year temporary status for qualified applicants, who would then be able to apply for a green card, or permanent residency status, if they passed background checks and paid taxes, according to the transition team’s statement.

It’s still unclear how many would be eligible to apply for relief under the Biden plan, which could face an uphill climb in the evenly-divided U.S. Senate, where at least 10 Republicans would have to support the bill.

The proposed legislation also would provide DACA recipients, some agricultural workers and recipients of Temporary Protected Status a faster path to citizenship by letting them apply for green cards immediately. After three years, green card holders would be allowed to apply for citizenship if they pass additional background checks, learn English and learn about U.S. civics, according to the transition team.

The TPS program was established in 1990 under President George H.W. Bush and allows citizens of countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters or other emergencies to seek temporary refuge in the U.S. or extend their current stays. Texas has about 49,000 TPS recipients, most of them from Central America, according to Dan Wallace, deputy managing director of New American Economy, a bipartisan research group that focuses on the economic benefits of immigration.

Wallace said the TPS holders in Texas have about $1 billion in spending power, and one in five work in the construction industry, which has helped sustain the state’s economy.

“Just having the certainty that folks will be able to stay is so hopeful, not only for those individuals and their families but also for the employers and cities they live in,” he said.

Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigration advocacy group, said he’s optimistic Biden will be able to convince Congress to support the larger immigration proposal even though it lacks traditional border enforcement elements like more agents and barriers. The proposal instead calls for an increase in technology and infrastructure to better screen crossers and goods.

“I think that there is a certain amount of border exhaustion for the Republicans,” he said. “[Trump’s wall] was a great organizing tool, but not necessarily a very smart security tool. And the apprehension numbers [of undocumented border crossers] went up as Trump was building his wall.”

Julián Aguilar reports on politics and border affairs from the Texas-Mexico border. This story  is published courtesy of the Texas Tribune, a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.