Biden Faces Competing Pressures as He Tries to Ease the Migrant Crisis
The situation provides ammunition to conservative Republicans who are vowing to shut down the government unless Congress agrees to harsh new anti-immigration measures.
The demand that President Biden ease the migrant crisis threatening to overwhelm American cities came privately, from the New York governor to top White House officials. It came publicly, in angry statements from Democratic and Republican officials around the country. It came from scores of immigrant rights groups.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration relented.
In one of the largest such actions ever taken, the Department of Homeland Security said that almost a half-million immigrants in the United States who had fled Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis would be allowed to immediately apply for work authorization. By allowing them to legally earn income, the change could alleviate the costly burden of housing the refugees in major cities across the country. The migrants also will be protected from deportation for at least the next 18 months.
