Following is a statement from Lynn Tramonte, Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.
It comes as no surprise that J.D. Vance is already using his position in the Senate to try to pick a fight with President Biden, just like he said he would. The House of Representatives is set to spend the next two years arguing and getting nothing done. And now we know Vance plans to simply play Senator by issuing press releases. For that, Ohio and the nation will continue to suffer.
Vance’s point of criticism is that President Biden is proposing a way for some people whose lives are in danger to request advance permission to come to the U.S. and seek asylum. This “parole” program (an immigration term, not used in the criminal context), is open to certain people from only four countries. They must have the money for a plane ticket, as well as someone in the U.S. who is willing to support them financially, before they even apply.
It’s a meek start at asylum management with major holes, but a step forward for some.
Hillbilly Elegy may have been a work of nonfiction, but Vance’s claims about Biden’s policies to manage access to asylum are pure fiction. He calls the people who would participate in this program “illegal migrants,” when the whole point is that they are applying, in advance, to enter the country legally.
Each person’s application will be considered individually. That’s just how immigration applications work. But Vance doesn’t seem to understand that either.
It’s also embarrassing that Vance is asking about the legal authority the program is based on. As a lawmaker, he should certainly be aware that there is a body of law called the Immigration and Nationality Act. But even if he doesn’t want to do his job and read the statute, the answer is in the first sentence of this very helpful Congressional Research Service report. (Hint: it’s the Immigration and Nationality Act.)
President Biden is still implementing many anti-asylum policies of the Trump administration, and proposing more. The parole program is the one tactic the administration is using that is different. Advance permission to apply to seek safety is a way for people to exercise their legal and human right to seek asylum, without also having to make a dangerous journey. It should be expanded to people from other countries, and used to supplement—not replace—the universal right to request asylum at the border. (Which, again, is also legal.)
Many Ohioans are beyond frustrated with the business of politics, from the $60 million FirstEnergy bribery scandal to the unconstitutional gerrymandering of legislative districts. So when we see bipartisanship on immigration, like Senator Sherrod Brown and Representative Mike Carey’s support for protecting for Black Mauritanians who fled slavery and apartheid, we feel a glimmer of hope. Maybe there is a way to advance some solutions.
But Vance doesn’t want Ohioans to feel hope that Congress could come together and get something done. He wants us to feel fear.
And by attacking this particular parole program, I have to wonder—is Vance worried that it could actually work? Maybe he is afraid, too. Afraid of losing his favorite political issue.