Biden needs cities like Philadelphia to help him undo ICE’s culture of fear | Opinion
In the face of stiff federal resistance under the Trump administration, cities were often the only champions for immigrants.
For the last four years, I watched the Trump administration relentlessly attack our immigrant communities. I witnessed the administration push a nativist agenda by issuing disgraceful travel bans, separating families, threatening cities, undermining DACA, reducing refugee admissions, and imposing unprecedented burdens on visa and asylum-seekers, all while ratcheting up overheated anti-immigrant rhetoric. Most of that time I was heading the Office of Immigrant Affairs as Philadelphia, like other cities, led the way in embracing immigrants and bringing many of them from the shadows. Sadly, in the face of stiff federal resistance, cities were often the only champions for immigrants.
With Joe Biden sworn in as president, cities will no longer stand alone in supporting immigrants. But how will the new administration build back better?
» READ MORE: Biden bets big on immigration changes in opening move
The first 100 days of a new administration are crucial for setting the stage and establishing priorities. Biden has hit the ground running to undo Donald Trump’s spiteful immigration policies and revive America’s welcoming spirit. In a series of executive orders, Biden rescinded the travel bans, bolstered DACA, halted border wall construction, and reversed plans to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census. While reversing past harms is promising, it will take more time and work for President Biden to rebuild trust from immigrants. To do that, his administration will have to treat cities like Philadelphia — which have been the first line of defense in protecting immigrants — as key partners in developing policy, offering insight and serving as models for reducing fears, rebuilding trust, and driving inclusion.
A crucial step in this effort will be addressing the driving cause of fear and mistrust amongst immigrants over the last four years: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Like our criminal justice system, the immigration system is in desperate need of accountability and reform. While Biden promises to end workplace raids and protect sensitive locations from immigration raids, thereby ensuring that no person avoids seeking medical attention or going to school, their job, or their place of worship for fear of confronting ICE agents, there is a lot more to be done to transform ICE’s culture of fear and debunk myths like the immigration-crime connection. Emboldened by Trump, ICE terrorized communities and used deceptive practices, like wearing vests labeled “Police,” that are counterproductive to public safety and erode the trust local officials have worked so hard to build.
In Philadelphia, these actions made people feel scared, confused, and embattled. During my time in immigrant affairs, I regularly met with immigrant groups to discuss issues like language barriers and access to legal assistance. Yet, our conversations always returned to fear — of ICE, of deportation, and of the future — for themselves and for their children. The fear was palpable and so real that many could not attend these meetings. Cities helped ease those fears and created trust by reinforcing policies that limit the cooperation between local police and ICE and eliminating ICE’s exploitation of law enforcement databases.
» READ MORE: Biden ends the ‘Muslim ban’ on day one of his presidency but its legacy will linger | Opinion
The Biden administration must also advance forward-looking federal policies and programs that promote immigrant inclusion, equity, and equality. Philadelphia and welcoming cities like it understand their immigrant communities more intimately than the federal government. Cities see firsthand the local impact and importance of a diverse immigrant community that drives our economy and enriches our communities. In a promising initial step, the Biden administration proposed an immigration bill that recognizes the importance of immigrant integration and inclusion.
However, the bill faces a long and difficult congressional path toward passage. In its absence, the Biden administration must identify other ways within their executive authority to rapidly accomplish the goal of inclusion. Cities like Philadelphia can help and serve as models for action. Philadelphia has fashioned policies and programs that emphasize inclusion and benefit all residents, like accessible language resources and access to municipal IDs, regardless of immigration status, as well as those that promote dignity and access to justice like deportation defense.
Four years ago, a week after the inauguration, in an ominous sign of what was to come, former President Trump set the stage for his nativist agenda and issued the Muslim ban. I joined other city officials and thousands at the Philadelphia International Airport in solidarity with the immigrants targeted by the ban. I knew right then that the city would have to step up to fight against this hate, but I also saw the sea of people and retained faint glimmers of hope. And now that hope is justified. I hope that we will never have any more airport protests and that this will mark the beginning of a partnership between the Biden administration and cities to restore America to its role as a welcoming and inclusive nation.
Miriam Enriquez is an attorney and lecturer in law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law. She formerly served as the director of immigrant affairs for the City of Philadelphia, a legislation and policy adviser for a Philadelphia City Council member, and as a prosecutor at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.