Immigration likely to take lower profile in Biden speech after mixed year

After months of largely fruitless talks with Republican senators, Democrats moved to include as much of their immigration proposal as possible in a budget reconciliation bill. But three separate versions of the plan were shot down by the Senate parliamentarian, whose approval is effectively needed for budget-only bills to pass with a simple majority.

These days, the reconciliation plan, known as “Build Back Better,” is tied up amid concerns from moderate Democrats over the overall price tag.

Advocates and some lawmakers are also deeply frustrated at Biden’s border policy. Early in his presidency, Biden exempted unaccompanied children from Title 42, a Trump-era public health directive under which migrants are expelled at the border in the name of pandemic protection. But he left the wider order in place, despite debate among public health experts over its necessity.

The Biden administration has “taken far too long to reverse the Trump administration’s dangerous and inhumane policies restricting asylum seekers at the southwest border, namely the use of Title 42 and the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., a top immigration voice, criticizing the administration for making “minimal progress” in restoring the nation’s asylum system.

Bier, of the Cato Institute, also blamed the continued implementation of Title 42 for much of the immigration stalemate, both in Congress and in the White House.