COALITION FOR HUMANE IMMIGRANT RIGHTS

PRESS STATEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   February 3, 2021
BIDEN EXECUTIVE ORDERS BEGIN TO
REMAKE, REFORM OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM
Orders are a welcome first step to end family separation, draconian asylum measures, and attacks on family immigration
LOS ANGELES -- The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the largest immigrant rights organization in California, expressed support for President Biden's executive orders that aim to rescind family separation, remake asylum processing, and roll back attacks on family immigration.

  • On family separation, Biden's orders also created a task force to reunite children in immigration custody with their families and will explore how best to repair these separations.
  • On asylum and the border, Biden ordered a review on how to best end rapid deportations and the cruel "Remain-in-Mexico" policy that forced asylum seekers into filthy refugee camps on the U.S. southern border. He also ordered suspension of third-country agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras that shut the door on U.S. asylum for migrants from these countries.
  • And on family immigration, Biden ordered an immediate review, with a report in 60 days, of the hated public charge policy, which conditions legal residency on whether an applicant benefited from public aid programs. He also charted a course on how to grow access to U.S. citizenship.

Please attribute the following statements to Angelica Salas, CHIRLA executive director:

"With these orders, President Biden used his executive power to give immigrants something they haven't had in a long time: protection. The previous administration put targets on the backs of immigrants for four years, attacking them in big and little ways, without regard to their contributions, specific need, or even legal status. All immigrants, with and without papers, were fair game.

"These executive orders begin the long road back to governance and the transformation of our broken immigration system into one that puts justice for all at the top of the agenda. We will not pretend the process will be easy, and we recognize that these executive orders are first steps. But neither will we go back, ever, to letting ourselves be attacked and neglected as we have been.

"We look forward to working diligently to realize these changes that cannot come too soon. We now have reason the systemic reform we have longed for will finally come to pass. We are ready for it."