AJC Policy: Immigration

Introduction & Background

Immigrants to the U.S. offer economic, social, and cultural contributions to our society. Our nation’s strength and resilience derive from its diversity, inclusiveness, and openness. Bipartisan, common-sense solutions must be found to meet the economic and national security needs of the U.S., while upholding our international obligations and shared American values of justice, equal opportunity, and respect for the human rights and dignity of all people.

According to reports, arrivals of news immigrants and asylum seekers have significantly increased during the last few months. The number of unaccompanied minors is skyrocketing and is on pace to hit record levels. Andrew Selee, President of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, acknowledges the cyclical nature of immigration: “Every two or three years, we get a spike of migrants coming to the U.S.-Mexico border. Yet we deal with this each time as though it’s a separate incident that can be controlled, rather than looking at the larger forces at play.” 

Comprehensive Immigration Reform 

Ongoing national disagreement over immigration undermines our country and weakens its commitment to democratic and humanitarian values. Legislators must focus on immigration reform that will secure the nation’s borders but that will also ensure that migrants are treated with respect and dignity and that asylum-seekers are not returned by the U.S. into dangerous situations. Legislators should also offer a humane alternative to the limbo in which 11 million undocumented immigrants find themselves today. To address future flows and current backlogs in our immigration system there should be viable and efficient pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

The Need for a Transnational Approach

Solutions to address immigration to the U.S. must include and involve the broader region, with a goal to stabilize the Western Hemisphere. Numerous countries in the hemisphere struggle with existential problems related to stability, crime and law enforcement, democracy, corruption, and security. The region must become more secure and more democratic to address the root causes of migration so that families can safely remain in their homelands.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform 

In addition to recognizing the political and economic factors that drive migration, comprehensive immigration reform must address:

• DACA/Dreamers: The roughly 800,000 Dreamers (undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children) need a permanent solution that yields stability and security.

  • The American Dream and Promise Act, recently passed in the House with bipartisan support, would grant legal status, and ultimately U.S. citizenship, to Dreamers.

• Stability in the Western Hemisphere: Congress should evaluate aid to the region with an eye towards creating meaningful reforms, particularly in areas that drive irregular migration such as corruption and lack of opportunity. The U.S. should expand and create new legal pathways for immigration for people at particular risk of violence in countries facing particularly acute challenges. The U.S. should be actively engaged with the OAS to achieve common objectives, promote democratic values and good governance.

  • Legislation like the 2020 U.S.–Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement Act empowered a U.S. strategy to advance prosperity, combat corruption, strengthen democratic governance, and curb irregular migration. Similar efforts to promote stability in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras are vital to address migration, protect lives, and stabilize the region.

• Temporary Protected Status (TPS): Ending TPS for Hondurans, Salvadorians, Haitians, and others who escaped dangerous conditions in their home countries threatens to destabilize Central America, jeopardize U.S. national security, and endanger lives. The recent adoption of TPS for Venezuelan citizens who escaped their current non-democratic regime strengthens protections for vulnerable migrants and should be applied to other nations in the region.

• Asylum seekers and refugees: We recognize that many people seek to migrate to the U.S. not simply for a “better life” but because they are fleeing persecution. AJC advocates for U.S. policies that meet its international obligations to provide asylum-seekers with access to fair and efficient procedures and to ensure it does not expel or return people to situations where they face a real risk of harm.

  • The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program has not only played a key role in saving the lives of millions of people, but it has also made the United States, founded and built by refugees and immigrants, stronger and richer. The sharp decline in the number of refugees admitted in the past several years is deeply concerning. We welcome President Biden’s recent pledge to raise the refugee admissions ceiling to 125,000 in FY 2022 and we support more concerted efforts to strengthen U.S. capacity to efficiently resettle refugees so that admissions targets can be met in practice.

  • At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. instituted an emergency measure that denies migrants the right to seek asylum at our borders. The ban remains in place, with exceptions for unaccompanied children and some others. The pandemic has not ended persecution and health concerns cannot be an excuse to deny rights of asylum. Following the example of many other nations, and the guidance of international authorities, the U.S. should permit  asylum-seekers, using measures recommended by public health experts such as masking, distancing, testing, and quarantining where necessary.

  • We welcome the Biden Administration’s recent decision to reconsider regulations that inappropriately narrow the grounds for eligibility to seek asylum in the U.S. We urge the U.S. to interpret these rules in conformity with our international obligations, including by allowing people fleeing gender-based violence and criminal gangs to seek asylum in certain circumstances.

  • The U.S. must act to help our immigration court system function more efficiently and effectively while respecting the due process rights of asylum-seekers. Past measures to increase the courts’ efficiency by undermining due process protections—like placing high case quotas on immigration judges—risk creating a system that denies protection to many with legitimate claims. We should also increase the number of immigration judges and other measures to improve the efficiency of the system.

• Refugee detention: Detention—especially of vulnerable populations such as families and asylum seekers—should occur only where a serious threat is determined to exist, not as a default procedure.

  • Border facilities, which were not designed to house children, are grossly overcrowded and cannot provide acceptable accommodations. At the bare minimum, children confined in emergency shelters at the border must receive edible food, clean drinking water, housing in hygienic facilities with sanitary bathrooms, soap, and toothpaste; and are not subjected to sleep deprivation. Detention facilities should be regularly inspected, and inhabitants must be treated in a humane manner that reflects American values and our international obligations.

  • All migrants should be treated with respect and dignity. The U.S. should ensure that asylum-seekers are quickly released through community-based initiatives to continue the asylum process.

This policy paper is meant to be a resource for candidates and elected officials. It is one of several that outlines American Jewish Committee (AJC) standpoints and policies on issues of core concern to our organization and our community. Download the PDF

AJC, founded in 1906, is the Jewish community’s global advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the security and well-being of the Jewish people and Israel, and to advance human rights and democratic values around the world. In addition to its New York headquarters and its Office of Policy and Diplomatic Affairs in Washington, D.C., AJC has 25 U.S. regional offices, 14 overseas posts, and 38 partnerships with Jewish communities and institutions worldwide.

For more information, please be in touch with Julie Rayman, AJC Deputy Director of Policy and Diplomatic Affairs, at raymanj@ajc.org or 202-776-5430.