There is no other way to describe my immersion in the new cycle of the 2024 Presidential Election other than sudden, unprecedented, and intense. When Trump was planting the seeds of his anti-immigrant vitriol during his 2016 campaign, I was living and going to school in Shanghai, China. At that time, I would not describe myself as \u201cpolitical\u201d in any sense of the word; I was far-removed from this political conversation. Yet, through these readings, the dramatic and sensationalist nature of Trump\u2019s approaches to immigration policy\u2014specifically, that pertaining to Mexican migrants\u2014is starkly familiar to me. He has conjured up such an image and approach to immigration that has been a prevalent cultural and political message through the past decade.<\/p>\n
In \u201cTrump promises to deport all undocumented immigrants, resurrecting a 1950s strategy \u2212 but it didn\u2019t work then and is less likely to do so\u00a0now,\u201d Burgess writes that Trump\u2019s militarized approach to deportation of undocumented immigrants is \u201cplaying to unfounded and dehumanizing fears of an immigrant invasion\u201d and \u201cmisrepresents the context and impact of Eisenhower\u2019s policy while ignoring the vastly changed landscape of U.S. immigration today.\u201d \u00a0Trump\u2019s fearmongering of immigrants made the national stage during the presidential debate, as his comments on Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio gained internet virality.<\/p>\n
His comments are rather reminiscent of Eisenhower \u201cOperation Wetback\u201d Era where the popular opinion of immigrants was much more hostile. However, in Fear & Hope: What\u2019s It Take to Make Sanctuary Real? [NYC Immigration Stories], the immigration lawyer describes immigration as the pivotal driver of the economy, dynamism, cultural capital, and enrichment in sanctuary cities. Mass, sweeping deportations do not translate in the same way as the 1950s due to this dramatic shift in the immigration policy sphere: the undocumented population is increasingly dispersed and diverse, and many live in cities where sweeps are hard to carry out.<\/p>\n
Additionally, these readings helped me gain a fuller perspective of Biden\u2019s approach to the border. In the political conversation, democrats are often described as \u2018unsure\u2019 around the issue of immigration compared to their republican peers. Perhaps this manifests in the language that these reporters use to describe Biden\u2019s history on immigration: ambivalent, a balancing act, mixed bag\u2026 Biden has come out strong on his support for migrants, in his 2020 presidential campaign stating that the U.S. must take on the role as a \u201csafe haven for refugees and asylum seekers.\u201d He retained Trump\u2019s deportation policy, Title 42, during the beginning of his presidency and has also enforced more punitive orders that shut down the Southern border which originally directed migrants to seek asylum between ports of entry.<\/p>\n
As Harris runs on a campaign that looks toward the future, I’m left wondering about how the departure from a Biden presidency may impact the intensification of regulation along the border.<\/p>\n
In my opinion, the reading that provided me with the newest insight was \u201cWill Mexico Decide the U.S. Election?\u201d There is a general narrative that Mexico lacks strong immigration policy of its own, instead reacting to the continuous demands of the U.S. The impact of Mexico\u2019s National Migration Institute suspension of deportation proceedings, and how it aided with American efforts is an interesting reflection on how the dialogue around Mexico-U.S. immigration issues is more symbiotic than we assume. This insight may be central into how the U.S. continues to develop border policy for the upcoming administration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is no other way to describe my immersion in the new cycle of the 2024 Presidential Election other than sudden, unprecedented, and intense. When Trump was planting the seeds of his anti-immigrant vitriol during his 2016 campaign, I was living and going to school in Shanghai, China. At that time, I would not describe<\/p>\n