Forbidden to forget | The State
The ‘Dreamers’ expect relief from the new government.
Photo:
NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP / Getty Images
Following the politics of Washington, D.C., for nearly three decades has been both a blessing and a curse. Blessing for the pool of experience, the ability to put new events in context and witness history in its development in the forefront. Damn because witnessing jokes or false promises fuels the ever-present cynicism we have towards politicians.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris assume the reins as president and vice president of the nation after the nightmare of the presidency of Donald Trump. They have already begun to propose public policy changes in various areas, including immigration.
In that context, a special request must be made of them: never forget who catapulted you to your triumph, and also never forget the promises you have made to the American people and the various sectors that were fundamental to your triumph. Regardless of the opposition you may have from conservative Republicans or moderate Democrats, remember that for decades, but especially for the past four years, those groups that helped you succeed have been waiting for solutions to the problems that suffocate them, be it justice. social, equality, better wages or regularize your immigration status. After the torment of Trump and a pandemic, it is only fair that there is a real change and the issues that have been left in the pipeline are resolved.
Thus, African Americans, who were undoubtedly the engine of the Biden-Harris triumph, await real solutions to their issues of concern, particularly social justice. Latinos also voted overwhelmingly for Biden-Harris, although it is wanted to emphasize that one sector opted for Trump. The reality is that a majority voted for Biden.
And many of those hope that this time the long-awaited immigration reform that legalizes 11 million undocumented immigrants will finally come to fruition. The contributions of these undocumented immigrants are well known, but now during the pandemic their contribution as essential workers has been more than evident, from agricultural fields, food processing and distribution, among many other areas.
Biden hopes to sign a series of executive orders to reverse some of Trump’s most dire policies. And he’s also proposing an ambitious immigration reform plan, which, among other things, provides an eight-year path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, streamlines citizenship for Dreamers, and reforms asylum laws.
The new president, of course, is dragging on Barack Obama’s infamous unfulfilled promise to promote immigration reform when he took office in 2009. What followed was a rise in the number of deportations that many sectors neither forget nor forgive. Obama closed his first presidential term by protecting the Dreamers from deportation by executive order, when legislative attempts failed and when pressure to do so was decisive. In the first year of his second term, 2013, Obama pushed for immigration reform, which although it advanced in the Democratic Senate, did not progress in the Republican lower house.
What no one expected is that Trump would come to the White House with a racist and cruel immigration agenda, to the point of separating children from their parents at the border, many of whom in today’s sun have not been able to be reunited with their families.
So it is important not to forget the past, especially to try not to make the same mistakes. That goes for all sectors involved, politicians and activists. Biden has a Democratic Congress, but history has shown that that does not guarantee absolute Democratic support for many measures, and immigration has always been one of those. That the perfect is not the enemy of the good. Keep in mind that the immigrant community has been one of the most traumatized by the outgoing Trump administration and it seems that consensus is being sought.
In short, forgetting is prohibited. But we must not allow past mistakes in handling this immigration issue to prevent the search for relief that for decades has been impossible to achieve. May this time be different.
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