The issue I intend to address in my brief is in regards to President Joe Biden’s proposed 100 Day Deportation ban. President Biden’s administration proposed a 100-day-halt in active deportation efforts in order to reassess the issue on the border and implement a new approach towards immigrant apprehension, detention, and court proceedings. This proposition is kairotic because the 2020 Presidential election was particularly divisive, and border policy remains a hot button issue across the United States. Joe Biden’s outlook on the Mexican-American border is completely different from that of his precedent, Donald Trump. Throughout Biden’s presidency, his work on the border will constantly be compared to that of Donald Trump’s, and the burden of action will constantly be placed on the Biden administration to reverse Trump’s policies. Biden’s own immigration goals are quite ambitious, and a 100 day decoration ban could play a vital role in allowing the administration ample time to step back, reassess, and prepare. Such drastic policy shifts occurring along the border without a halt in deportation efforts could lead to confusion, subjectivity, and a lack of order as the Biden administration would be tasked with preforming an immediate 180 in terms of immigration management. The goal of the ban would not only be to reverse policy, but to conduct studies on the effects of deportation decrease.
The cause of Biden’s proposed deportation halt comes as a result of inadvertent issues. President Trump’s immigration policies were extremely hardline and intense, which led to numerous issues on the border. Many people, including myself, condemn the Trump administration for their lack of caution and awareness in regard to the Mexican-American border. Border crowding, separation, and legal clogging were commonplace during the Trump Administration. Some may argue that these were intentional byproducts of Trump’s policies, but I believe that most of the issues that occurred under the Trump administration occurred as a result of a lack of genuine awareness and educated action. Although many of the issues on the Mexican American border occurred inadvertently, President Trump supported many hardline policies that directly caused border clogging and confusion. This issue has occurred as a result of both inadvertent and advertent factors
The two policy instruments that are most at play when considering Biden’s deportation halt are capacity builders and system changes. Perhaps the most encompassing goal of the ban is to take a step back, allow policymakers to view the issue from a distance, and re-evaluate. The hope is that the ban will help reshape attitudes and culture on the basis of facts, rather than fear. The Biden administration views the situation on the border very differently than the Trump Administration did, and likely hopes that a 100 day deportation ban would allow citizens to buy into Biden’s values after statistics are collected. One byproduct of these capacity builders will hopefully be system changes, which are the legislated policy changes that occur as a result of this re-evaluation
I think you’re right about this being a very kairotic topic and I think it will be entertaining to read about.
Your issue brief topic definitely fits the criteria for kairos. However, because the issue is bound to the Biden administration (very limited time frame), I wonder if this can be used as an info brief topic… I don’t believe it meets the criteria of “public policy” (CAS Keyword).
Are there long-term mandates? inducements? capacity builders? or system changes? While you cite the policy addresses capacity builders and system changes, I don’t believe it does. Citing the keyword “Making Policy” page, “Capacity builders focus on educating members of the public to shape attitudes, norms, and culture” and “Capacity builders can help to spread awareness about an issue, but they often take a long period of time to work. Deeply-ingrained public attitudes about a topic can take months, or even years, to change.” How does a 100 day ban alter the opinions of Americans in the long term? Or does it simply “educate” policy-makers? Additionally, regarding system changes, does the ban TRULY change the system? Or just allot the Biden administration TIME to change policy?
I believe your overarching topic of immigration has the potential for numerous policy proposals, but I think your current topic of supporting the ban doesn’t quite meet the requirements for the Issue Brief. I hope this helps!
Rayna’s comment is excellent, Dan. I think you ultimately want to think about what system changes should be put in place.
I agree with Rayna, as it may be difficult to grasp a scope of an issue so unique to just the Biden Admin. Perhaps you could take a wider angle and discuss the issues along the border in general? As familial separation and bad conditions is not only unique to Trump and Biden’s administrations.