Serious Legislators Would Have Already Fixed The U.S. Immigration System— Trump Has Forbidden That

Sometimes people ask me why I’m so friendly towards Tom Suozzi, who’s a lot more conservative than the kinds of Democrats Blue America endorses. First of all, we never endorsed him. Second, I know Suozzi for a long time and he’s a mixed bag when it comes to policy. He’s progressive on issues that define the Democratic Party— like women’s choice and marriage equality. ProgressivePunch, though grades him a lifetime “D.” They also note that he’s slightly less progressive than his district, which has D+2 PVI, is swingy and elected MAGA lunatic George Santos in 2022 against an establishment Democrat 53.8% to 46.2%. Suozzi turned that right on its head and beat the GOP establishment candidate 53.9% to 45.9%.

Years ago I asked Suozzi— who was telling me that he’s progressive at heart— where that progressivism has manifested itself in his career. He told me about how, when he was many of the biggest town in the district, Glen Cove, he established, in 1994, a sane policy agenda towards immigrants, which included a model program that created In 1994, as Mayor of Glen Cove, Suozzi the first day laborer center on the East Coast. When he was honored by the New York Immigration Coalition (for creating an environment of welcome and inclusion for immigrants in Nassau County) in 2011, he told the audience that "Those men who were standing on the street corner looking for work back in 1994 are the same men who now have their own businesses as landscapers and contractors. They have bought their own homes. Their children are now going to the same public schools as my children. They are living the American Dream... What ICE officials were doing [massive raids] was wrong. [He asked the audience to put themselves in the place of immigrant children] "who saw ICE come bursting through the door in the middle of the night, some of them carrying shotguns, to take away members of their family. Do you think that child will ever trust law enforcement again? This issue has become an excuse for racism in this country and we have to constantly work to persuade people that we are talking about human beings and their lives. We have a lot more work to do together. We have a lot of people to convince."

So, the Democratic Party leadership has been smart to make Suozzi part of the conversation on the party’s immigration agenda. Today he sent an e-mail to his constituents on the topic: “Suozzi Seeks New Bipartisan Coalition Of ‘Business, Badges, And the Bible’ To Bring ‘Order To The Border.’” It noted that he’s “seeking to build a bipartisan, broad-based coalition to bring ‘order to the border’ and reform America’s antiquated, broken immigration system. “Business,” he wrote, “has a huge stake in immigration reform. Companies, farmers, hospitals, and manufacturers need a long-term immigration fix to better plan the future of our nation’s economic health. Immigrant workers have become an essential part of the U.S. workforce, contributing across sectors and playing a noteworthy role in our country’s economy. By using the word ‘bible,’ I refer to those basic values, both religious and secular, that Americans have embraced— that all men and women are created equal and are entitled to human respect and dignity. Spiritual and secular leaders of all kinds can join hands to practice what they preach: the golden rule, human dignity, and the worth of all people. And ‘badges’ represent our country’s law enforcement community who need new, innovative technology, cutting-edge tools, and ‘order at the border’ to better protect our borders and communities.”

“The U.S. faces an immigration crisis because too many politicians have spent too many years ‘weaponizing’ immigration policy-fighting across the aisle- but haven’t done a thing to fix it,” declared Suozzi.

“My goal is to introduce bipartisan legislation this summer that will 1) secure the border, 2) fix the broken and outdated asylum system, and 3) treat people like human beings,” he announced.

Suozzi has visited the southern border three times, meeting with border patrol agents, local law enforcement officials, mayors, businesses, and nonprofits. “It’s not working,” Suozzi says.

“The present immigration system is hopelessly outdated. The original asylum process was created during the ‘cold war.’ The United States Refugee Act of 1980 when America was happy to provide a safe haven to ‘individuals fleeing persecution in the Soviet Union, Cuba, and other communist and authoritarian regimes,’” Suozzi explained.

As Co-Chair of the newly formed Democrats for Border Security Task Force, Suozzi faces a daunting challenge: To find common ground with Democrats and Republicans in a bitterly divided, election year congress.

“Democrats and Republicans in Washington must work together to pass bipartisan immigration reform legislation to firmly secure our borders and establish clear, legal paths,” he asserted.

Suozzi said he was disappointed when a bipartisan Senate deal struck last February between Senators James Lankford  (R-OK), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) was torpedoed by Trump.

“You've got to keep on working. There's an old expression: ‘Don't mourn— organize,’” Suozzi rallied.  “It's hard. Getting this done is hard work, but I have made this my number one priority. I am going to build this coalition,” he added.

In May, when Suozzi realized that Congress was not going to pass the Senate's bipartisan legislation, he worked with Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) to call on President Biden to take executive action.

In June, Suozzi welcomed the President’s executive orders on bringing “order to the border” and work permits for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens, many of whom have lived in America for their whole lives. “Now Congress must, after 30 years, finally act!” Suozzi said.

At the same time Suozzi was sending out his e-mail, Reuters published a piece, Biden is now deporting more people than Trump, which probably takes many Democrats angry with persuading any conservatives that Biden is “better” on the border than Trump is. According to the report from Reuters, “Trump is promising to ramp up deportations from the United States to historic levels if reelected to another four-year term in the White House as part of his campaign to defeat Biden… who has struggled with record numbers of migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. In June, Biden implemented a sweeping, new asylum ban aimed at quickly deporting more recent border crossers to their home countries or Mexico.”

Even with the tougher border policy, Biden has continued to work to protect longer-term immigrants in the U.S. illegally, including through a new effort also announced in June that would ease the path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of people married to U.S. citizens. He has shifted enforcement priorities inside the country to focus on removing migrants who the U.S.has deemed as public safety threats. 

Trump’s pledge echoes his 2015 campaign promise to deport some 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally. After winning office in 2016, he said his administration aimed to deport 2 million to 3 million people with criminal records.

But during Trump’s term in office from January 2017 to January 2021, deportations by U.S. immigration and border authorities fell lower than most years of his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, who some advocates for immigrants dubbed the “deporter-in-chief.”

… During the first presidential debate on June 27, Trump was asked to explain how he would deport millions of people but declined to give details, saying, “We have to get a lot of these people out and we have to get them out fast.” Biden highlighted a recent drop in migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border under his new asylum ban but did not directly address the efforts to step up deportations.

…Trump in an April interview with Time magazine said he would lean more on local police to turn migrants over to ICE. During his term in office, however, some police forces limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Trump in the interview said he would turn to the National Guard if needed. Tom Homan, a former top ICE official who could return in a second Trump administration, told Reuters the National Guard, if used, would play a support role but that only law enforcement officers would make immigration arrests.

According to a poll, a majority— or 56%— said most or all immigrants in the U.S. illegally should be deported, though the same poll suggested some Americans may be wary of some harsher deportation plans. About half of those surveyed opposed putting immigrants in the country illegally into detention camps while awaiting removal.

Trump in the Time interview downplayed reports that he would build detention camps if reelected, saying he “would not rule out anything” but there “wouldn't be that much of a need for them,” suggesting people would be removed quickly. Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Americans support mass deportations, and reiterated the former president’s pledge.

“On Day One back in the White House, President Trump will begin the largest criminal deportation operation of illegal immigrants and restore the rule of law,” Leavitt said in a statement.

White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez touted Biden’s recent actions to deter illegal immigration as well as efforts to open up more legal pathways for would-be migrants outside the U.S., saying Biden's asylum ban would "ensure that those who cross the border unlawfully are quickly removed."

Biden and the border

During Biden’s term, the number of people apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border has reached record highs.

Biden’s administration for several years used a Trump-era border expulsion policy, known as Title 42, to quickly send many migrants back to Mexico. The public health measure, put in place in March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, aimed to minimize the time migrants spent in custody and allowed border agents to rapidly expel them to Mexico without a chance to seek asylum.

Border agents expelled migrants 2.8 million times under Title 42. The vast majority of those expulsions happened under Biden, who took office in January 2021, until he lifted the measure in May 2023 when the COVID emergency ended.

Migrants expelled under Title 42 were not subject to the same consequences of a more formal deportation process, which can lead to criminal charges or long bars on reentering the country. The Biden administration argued that the quick expulsions led to more people attempting to cross the border multiple times and when it lifted the measure, U.S. officials implemented new policies aimed at more effective enforcement.

Biden has repeatedly said the only way to fix the border is through legislation. A bipartisan bill proposed in the U.S. Senate, and backed by the White House, would have toughened border rules and increased funding. But Republicans scuttled the effort after Trump came out against it, saying it would not sufficiently stem crossings. Biden called it an “extremely cynical political move” by the former president.

Unable to pass legislation in Congress, Biden has taken several executive actions to limit access to asylum, while increasing legal ways to enter the country— including by seeking an appointment at legal ports of entry on a government-run app.

Citing these and other measures, such as increased cooperation with Western Hemisphere countries to curb migration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it has ramped up the number of removals of recent border crossers after the end of Title 42 and sped up the asylum screening process.

Trump has said he would reinstate Title 42 if elected.

So suppose that— God forbid— Trump manages to get backing the White House and carries out the promises he’s made on immigration and the border. Aside from giving a lot of the drooling xenophobes who support him erections, what would the impact be on the U.S.? Glad you asked. First of all the labor shortages would immediately severely damage several important industries, like agriculture, construction, hospitality and healthcare, which rely heavily on immigrant labor. You think the MAGAt down the street is going to go harvest lettuce or pick strawberries? On top of that, with fewer workers available, businesses will be forced to raise wages to attract native-born workers, potentially leading to higher costs for goods and services and contributing to any inflationary spiral.

Immigrants contribute significantly to the U.S. GDP. Deporting millions would reduce overall economic output and slow economic growth. And that brings us to Social Security and Medicare. Did you know that immigrants, including those undocumented, contribute billions of dollars to Social Security and Medicare through payroll taxes. Deporting large numbers of immigrants would reduce these contributions, seriously exacerbating funding shortfalls for these programs. The long-term viability of Social Security and Medicare depends on a growing workforce. Reducing the number of contributors by deporting immigrants would threaten the sustainability of both programs— unless suddenly Republicans decide to raise taxes… and that’s not going to happen. They’d much rather get rid of both programs.

And as long as we’re talking about immigrants contributing to taxes and the general well-being of the economy, let me say that by paying sales taxes, property taxes (directly or indirectly through rent) and other local taxes. Immigrants have a huge positive impact on local economies, especially in cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Boston… Deportations would shrink the tax base, leading to decreased revenue for local governments, which would lead to cuts in public services such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure. Like Suozzi noted in his New York Immigration Coalition speech (above), many immigrants are entrepreneurs who start small businesses that create jobs and stimulate local economies. Obviously, deportations would lead to the closure of these businesses, reducing economic activity and job opportunities. Immigrants are also consumers who spend money on goods and services. Their removal would reduce demand, negatively impacting businesses, leading to closures and job losses.

Mass deportations would make the U.S. less attractive to global talent if it's seen as hostile to immigrants, reducing our ability to attract and compete for skilled workers and innovators from around the world. A country filled with Marjorie Traitor Greenes and Paul Gosars is like being stuck one of Dante’s circles of Hell, probably the 8th (sowing discord for which we’d be eternally hacked apart by a demon with a sword). And that’s even before we consider the human rights abuses, including violations of due process and the separation of families, which would instantly result in legal challenges— and further damage the U.S.'s international standing— and cost immense amounts of money.

I hope Suozzi’s bipartisan solution is going to advocate for a clear and achievable pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and clearly oppose policies that promote mass deportations and instead focus on fair and humane treatment of immigrants, while ensuring that immigration enforcement respects human rights and due process. The U.S. needs to reform the asylum process to make it more efficient and just, ensure that asylum seekers have access to legal representation and are not subjected to prolonged detention.

Democrats really need to work towards changing a toxic, bigoted narrative by highlighting the positive contributions of immigrants to society as a way of counter xenophobic rhetoric coming from reactionaries and self-serving rabble-rousers and their media allies.