Immigration

and the Democratic Party

PARISA RIJAL
WSHS Young Democrats
Historical Correlation with Politics
The first “immigrants” (in this case, colonizers) were those from Europe: Britain, Spain,
France, etc.
Lasting impact was made by those (previously) British immigrants, whose politics built off
of previous sentiments with tyrannical government.
ex: Federalists and Anti-Federalists
As other Europeans migrate to the now established United States of America, nativist
feeling grows.
ex: Know-Nothing Party
Immigration heavily influenced major political power struggles, and outcomes that would
change America.
ex: Irish in the Civil War
Democratic Party Platform (2021)
 Rescind Trumps “National Emergency”
 Eliminate Travel Bans
 Protect the rights of Dreamers
 Terminate policies that deny passage to asylum seekers and prosecute them
 Eliminate Immigration wealth test
 Prioritize family reunion
 Lessen immigration barriers (10 year waiting period)
 supporting the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights and the Protect Our Workers
from Exploitation and Retaliation (POWER) Act
 “Detention is a last resort”
Conditions at the Southern Border

 An abusive system: ICE

Under Trump’s presidency (and those prior) at the southern border…
 Unsanitary conditions
 Overcrowding
 Ex: NY Times Report in Texas 2019
 Unjustifiable death of children
 Separation of families
 Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez
 7 year old Jakelin Caal Maquin
DACA and Dreamers- Democratic Accomplishment for
Immigrants!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzYDqQDNFzc
 Supreme Court ruled to preserve protections of DREAMERS in June, 2020!
President Biden- Immigration
 Proclamation ending the ban on Muslim-majority countries
 EO revising immigration enforcement
 EO including undocumented migrants into the census
 Proclamation that pulled border wall funding
 Blocked deportation of Liberian refugees
 Memmoradum protecting DACA
 EO to end family separation and reunite families

These are all apart of the executive order list he signed at the begninnign of his
presidency! Many were immediate, such as the blocked deportation and DACA
protections, and many are taking time to be fully fixed, such as the southern
border.
What Democrats should work on

 According to the NY Times, people are being sent back into once empty
detention centers
 Many of these people were (falsely) told by human smugglers that the borders
are open, and many are minors crossing alone
 To ease overcrowding, Biden has administered the Federal Emergency
Management Agency and is seeking help with the Mexican government.
Sources

 https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/02/19/bidens-immigration-res
et/
 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/here-s-full-list-biden-s-exec
utive-actions-so-far-n1255564
 https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/the-irish-brigade#:~:text=More%2
0than%20150%2C000%20Irishmen%2C%20most,stop%20to%20anti%2DIrish%20discri
mination
.
 https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/creating-a-21st-century-immig
ration-system/
 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/us/migrant-children-border-soap.html
 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/why-are-migrant-children-dying-u-s-custody-n
1010316
 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/14/world/americas/mexico-border-bide
n.html