Analysis

In his second year in office, President Biden continued down an anti-immigrant path set by presidential administrations before him. While the Biden administration ended contracts for several Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities and submitted a budget request with a 26% reduction in ICE detention capacity, these victories are attributable to consistent pressure and organizing from community members. Overall, President Biden has widened the enforcement dragnet as detention numbers continued to rise and the number of people surveilled by ICE’s so- called alternatives to detention (ATD) increased exponentially. At the same time, the administration dragged its feet in walking back Trump-era anti-immigrant border policies, including Title 42, and most recently doubled-down on deterrence policies, severely restricting access to asylum and increasing the pipeline into detention.