Political hell broke loose when President Joe Biden announced an initiative that would eventually offer citizenship to some 500,000 undocumented immigrants and benefit some 50,000 children from having to be deported. It was the same Biden who a few weeks earlier announced measures to toughen up asylum procedures at the southern border which seemed to be uncontrollable.

“The Statue of Liberty is not some relic of American history. It still stands for who we are… I also refuse to believe that for us to continue to be an America that embraces immigration, we have to give up securing our border. They’re false choices”, the President remarked in announcing his new scheme that would allow undocumented spouses of American citizens living in the US for at least 10 years by June 17 to request for permanent residency and staying on in the country during the process.

In normal times the announcement would not have received the kind of attention and reactions it did. But the November 5 Presidential election is not too far away and immigration is one of the top on the charts where both the incumbent and his challenger, the former President Donald Trump, are trying to make inroads not just with their traditional bases of support that in some instances are seen wavering in a crucial election, especially in the six or seven battleground states.

Balancing act

For President Biden it is imperative to hold on to the progressives and the Left in the Democratic party, as well as making sure that the Hispanics and Latinos are with him and the Democrats. In a poll done in March only 3 of 10 Americans approved Biden’s handling of immigration and border security with about one half of adults maintaining that the President is extremely or very responsible of what is happening on the US-Mexico border.

The tough-cum-lenient approach of the administration has also to be seen in the context of robust polling numbers wanting to deport all or most undocumented immigrants but voters in battleground states weighing in favour of allowing spouses of Americans who have lived for over five years without documents to stay. The dual approach on immigration issues has earned the wrath of Republicans and other conservatives of President Biden wanting it “both ways”. The Biden approach has taken a lot of flak even if one were to dismiss the ridiculous assertion that all those who stand to benefit would be lining up to vote for the incumbent President this November — factoring in the time frame involved to process the green cards and naturalisation, many in this group would be extremely lucky to vote even in the 2028 election.

It is not that the administration has only factored in one group of undocumented, but that it has forgotten the impact this could have on those legally and legitimately waiting for a green card or in the impact this move was going to have on the H-1B numbers.

In one sense, Indian Americans who are in the top three of the undocumented list — in the neighbourhood of 800,000 — could benefit by the White House order, but the community as a whole could question the priorities of the Democratic President especially at a time when there is a clamour for high skilled visas and in doing away with the seven per cent country-wise quotas on permanent residency.

For instance, there is apprehension in some quarters that expediting work visas for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and undocumented immigrants could make things harder for Indian professionals to get a H-1B visa.

In the last two decades or more Republicans and Democrats in the Congress have been unable to come together on a comprehensive immigration bill; and to a large extent the differences have been on security measures at the border and the pathway to a citizenship. And this is precisely where President Biden finds himself now: the difficult reconciliation between seeing families torn apart and giving a fair shot to those who have been in the country legally for years waiting for their chance.

The writer is a senior journalist who has reported from Washington DC on North America and United Nations