Trump’s senior adviser Stephen Miller fleshed out his ideas of a second-term agenda aimed at “raising and enhancing the standard for entry” to the United States. Miller stressed that he was speaking strictly in his capacity as a campaign adviser to the president.
While some plans would require legislation, others would be achieved through executive order.
- Immigration Freeze
Lifting a freeze on green cards and visas would be contingent upon the analyses of the job market. When asked about the policy that separates children from families, Miller talked about family unity but cited the need for an amendment to the Flores settlement agreement that says children can’t be held more than 20 days in ICE detention. The aim is for families seeking asylum to be detained indefinitely while awaiting their day in court.
- Keeping Asylum Down
Asylum grants have plummeted under Trump and they want to keep it that way by seeking to expand “burden-sharing” deals with countries around the globe that cut off pathways to the U.S.
- Punish and Outlaw Sanctuary Cities
Miller outlined new initiatives to punish jurisdictions that refuse to turn over arrested people to ICE for deportation, and implement a law that would make the practice illegal.
- Expand Travel Ban and Screenings
Focusing on an expansion to the framework for vetting people for admission to the U.S., Miller wants to vet for “ideological sympathies or leanings” to gauge their potential recruitment to radicals.
- Curtail Work Visas
The Trump administration would greatly limit the use of H-1B visas, using a “points-based entry system” for American visa grants aimed at admitting only those who “can contribute the most to job creation and economic opportunity” while preventing “displacement of U.S. workers.”
The Biden campaign responded by saying a Biden administration would restore DACA, giving undocumented people a path to citizenship, protecting borders in a humane way, and ending family separations that have left children stranded.
“We are going to win this election so that people like Stephen Miller don’t get the chance to write more xenophobic policies that dishonor our American values,” Jen Molina, Latino media Biden campaign spokesperson said. “Unlike Trump, Vice President Biden knows that immigrants make America stronger and helped build this country.”
See NBC.