“Catch and Release” was the signature policy of the Obama Administration. The immigration policy lets migrant families who come across the border to stay in the United States until their asylum proceeding. The Trump Administration ended the policy, but in Sunday night’s Democratic debate Joe Biden pledged to bring the policy back.
“No one, no one would be put in jail while waiting for their [asylum] hearing.” said Biden during the debate. Instead of detaining or sending back those migrant families who illegally cross the border, Biden wants to let them go wherever they please in the United States until their proceeding.
Catch and release was a damaging policy for the United States. It was also an easily exploited policy, and one that carried loopholes. For example, many illegal immigrants would bring children with them to the border as shields to be covered under the “Unaccompanied Alien Children” loophole, which allowed them to stay in the country.
By ending catch and release in 2019, Americans saw real results and changes. The same year catch and release ended, wages for blue-collar Americans rose 5% while white-collar American workers saw a 4% increase in their wages. The measure disincentivized hiring illegal aliens.
While Joe Biden has been labeled by some as the “moderate” in the Democratic primary, his policy proposals are far from being anywhere in the middle. On Monday, he extended an olive branch to the far left by teaming up with Elizabeth Warren and endorsing her bankruptcy reform plan. It was an easy decision for Biden, who has no platform or principles left to stand on.
Joe Biden is the clear favorite to win the Democratic nomination. If he continues to gain momentum into the general election, he will not only bring back destructive immigration policies that put America last, but will go many steps further than Obama did by letting illegal aliens flood into the country.