Prospects for the Biden Agenda, Part 2
Elections and Politics Policy Brief # 25 | By: William Bourque | August 19, 2021
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In this series U.S. RESIST NEWS Reporter William Bourque examines the feasibility of implementing the different components of President Biden’s ambitious policy agenda. In Part 2 of the series we examine prospects for passage of Biden proposals in the areas of infrastructure and immigration.
Infrastructure
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For President Biden’s Administration, infrastructure has been a top priority, as clearly shown by the release of the “American Jobs Plan” which is one of the Presidents’ cornerstone policies. The plan aims to increase American jobs while repairing infrastructure which was thrown to the wayside because of President Trump’s “wall”. Biden plans to modernize 20,000 miles of highways, roads, and main-streets, while also repairing 10,000 of the most out of date bridges in America. Additionally, a large portion of repair will be done to “the 10 most economically significant bridges in the country in need of reconstruction.” Evidently, this is a problem that needs to be dealt with and Biden has made it clear that it is at the very top of the to-do list. In fact, the American Jobs Plan is one of the main priorities of the new $3.5 trillion budget the Senate laid out recently. Luckily, infrastructure is one of the more bipartisan issues that we currently face, so Biden shouldn’t have too much trouble pushing the more pressing infrastructure issues through. Look for much of this work to begin next year, once the delta variant of the coronavirus is more controlled.
Immigration
The Biden Administration has faced some of its harshest critics in recent months because of the practices in use at the United States’ southern border. During the Trump presidency, it was evident that refugees fleeing persecution weren’t being treated as humans. It seems as though the Biden administration hasn’t perfected their approach to the border yet, but it is a work in progress. The Administration outlined their plans in a press release on July 27th, saying “We will always be a nation of borders, and we will enforce our immigration laws in a way that is fair and just. We will continue to work to fortify an orderly immigration system.”
One of Biden’s main goals with the border is to redirect funds that were being used towards Trump’s wall to more useful projects, such as funding the border patrol officers on the front lines. Also, the Administration has stated that they intend to slow the expedited removal process of those arriving at the border. Essentially, this mean that folks who arrive at the border will have a chance to have their circumstances heard before a decision is made on their immigration status.
Photo taken from: The New York Times
This allows families to reunite and those fleeing persecution to have a stable, safe place to stay while their case is heard. Biden is also putting some of the border wall funds towards improving the United States human trafficking investigation operations. This is something that the Trump administration had neglected because of the obsession over the wall, and is certainly long overdue. Finally, the communications team at the White House will be put to work on immigration, releasing messages that encourage and “promote safe, legal, and orderly migration.” The Biden administration certainly has a lot of its plate, but they will be eager to maintain their campaign promises.