Luján, six other Dems, urge Biden to enshrine immigration protections

By Nicole Maxwell, City Desk ABQ

U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján joined six other Democrats in a letter asking President Joe Biden to finalize his administration’s immigration protections before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

“As senators who represent diverse states across our nation…we write to express our deep concern about the threat the incoming administration poses to immigrants in our communities,” the letter states. “Mass deportations would jeopardize the safety and security of millions of mixed-status families, sow deep distrust and fear in the communities we represent, and destabilize the U.S. economy. While we support common-sense steps to better secure our borders and improve border processing, we will continue to oppose any policies that contradict our nation’s core values.”

The senators are asking Biden to:

• Designate and extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for all eligible countries and consider providing Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) as appropriate
• Expedite the processing of benefit requests for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients
• Protect the ability for DACA holders and others to travel on advance parole;
• Prioritize adjudication of pending asylum claims
• Finalize the rule providing automatic extensions for those with work permits and prioritize work permit processing

“We write now because the window to secure and finalize your administration’s policies is closing rapidly,” the letter states. “We urge you to act decisively between now and the inauguration of the President-elect to complete the important work of the past four years and protect immigrant families.”

The letter was dated Monday.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday a final rule permanently increasing the automatic extension of employment authorization documents for eligible noncitizen workers.

The new rule extends the EAD automatic extensions from up to 180 days to up to 540 days upon EAD renewal, according to a DHS press release.“Since January 2021, the American economy has created more than 16 million jobs, and the Department of Homeland Security is committed to helping businesses fill them,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in the press release. “Increasing the automatic extension period for certain employment authorization documents will help eliminate red tape that burdens employers, ensure hundreds of thousands of individuals eligible for employment can continue to contribute to our communities and further strengthen our nation’s robust economy.”