COVID-19 Impact on Deportation of Undocumented Immigrants

With a new administration at the helm and the pandemic still remaining strong, Biden is taking steps to decrease deportation.

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the threat of deportation faced by undocumented immigrants in the United States. Most recently, the state of Texas and former President Trump aide Stephen Miller have openly opposed President Biden’s efforts in immigration reform by initiating their own movement to deport a massive number of migrants in the name of coronavirus precautions.

Thus far, the government has over 21,000 migrant children in custody. Now, people like Miller are trying to cite the Administrative Procedures Act in order to appeal to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to either deport the parents of incoming children or reject both adults and children, leaving whole families on the other side of the border.

So far, the Biden Administration has refused to both forcibly separate children from their parents or deport migrant children already present in the United States. For now, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has stated that the government plans to place these children into custody with a collaboration between the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Health and Human Services.