White House discusses a push on immigration reform after the midterms

October 5, 2022

Throughout his two terms, President Obama promised immigration reform. After four years of President Trump’s devotion to an “enforcement now, enforcement forever” approach to immigration, many hoped that a Biden administration might bring the nation immigration reform. That, of course, has not happened.

Mike Memoli, Peter Nicholas and Carol E. Lee for NBC News report that, as they plan a post-midterms legislative agenda for President Biden, the White House is considering a major push on immigration reform, No decisions have yet been made. “Such a push reflects an acknowledgment among Biden’s advisers that as he prepares for a re-election campaign based on the slogan `Promises Kept,’ immigration remains a 2020 campaign pledge that remains largely unfulfilled.” (bold added).

On his first day in office, President Biden sent Congress a comprehensive bill to overhaul the immigration system. “But he has expended no political capital to move it forward . . . .”

Some Biden officials believe that making immigration a high-profile priority could benefit the president whatever the outcomes of the midterms: “Either he makes bipartisan progress in revamping the immigration system, or he casts the GOP as nativists determined to block migration to the U.S.”

Stay tuned. But do not hold your breath.

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