The new year is an ideal occasion to put our priorities in order, formulate good resolutions and draw up a roadmap with the goals that translate our desires and dreams. Sadly, 2024 is shaping up to be a stormy year on the horizon for migrants in the United States.
Let’s list the list of dense and heavy storm clouds that stalk migrants:
- Emergency budget negotiations for border security, Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan resume this week. Republicans conditioned unblocking support on a toughening of immigration policy. Unfortunately, President Joe Biden agreed to make “significant commitments.” The good news is that he faces an internal rebellion from progressive Democrats. The coin is in the air, but we don’t expect anything good.
- On March 5, the controversial Texas law SB4 comes into effect. Migrants face sentences of up to 20 years in prison if they re-enter the United States illegally. But the worst thing is that Texas police officers will be able to detain and deport to Mexico those they suspect of having entered the state illegally. Although there are several legal lawsuits pending, including one from the Department of Justice, the final ruling will correspond to the Supreme Court of Justice.
- The Republican presidential candidates continue to be engaged in a tournament to win the championship of the most radical and extreme positions against migrants. Although former President Donald Trump remains the favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination by a wide margin, the radicalization of the immigration agenda may influence the winner’s public policies.
- Trump promised that, if he reaches the White House, he will close the border with Mexico from the first day of his presidency. Additionally, his campaign has leaked the details of his immigration agenda for a second administration, which includes large-scale migrant concentration camps and an expedited deportation program, among other draconian measures.
Whether these dark clouds become storms will depend in part on the Supreme Court, which must rule whether Trump can be disqualified from seeking the presidency for having been involved in a possible act of insurrection on January 6, 2021, as established by the 14th amendment of the Constitution. So far he has been disqualified in Colorado and Maine.
But ultimately, this legal battle transcends the courts:
- It challenges us, as a society, to confront our ignorance and prejudices, and re-evaluate the policies that shape our collective future.
It is a battle between 2 contradictory visions:
- The first vision is of a discriminatory, racist and xenophobic United States that denies its founding principles to slam the door in the face of the most vulnerable among us, including the persecuted and tortured, women and children.
- The other vision advocates a caring and compassionate approach toward migrants, a shared destiny aligned with the nation’s founding principles: freedom, equity and justice for all.
Millions of Hispanic voters will have the opportunity to vote on November 5, 2024 for one of those two visions, many of them young people who are voting for the first time.
Which candidate will you support with your vote, those who promote a hateful and exclusive future, or those who defend a humanist and inclusive future?
