HOUSTON – (Nov. 9, 2020) – President-elect Joe Biden's presidency promises to roll back many of the Trump administration’s attacks on U.S. immigration and to return the system to its standing under President Barack Obama, according to an immigration expert at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Kelsey Norman, fellow for the Middle East and director of the institute's Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program, is available to discuss the issue with the news media. Norman outlined her insights in a recent issue brief.
"Returning to the situation at the end of 2016 will not be enough to pacify critics who viewed Obama’s policy as too focused on enforcement and deportation, without enough political resources dedicated to ensuing legal pathways for individuals to come to or remain in the U.S," Norman said.
"If Biden wants to chart a truly different course going forward, he will have to not only roll back the many changes made under the Trump administration but also actualize his promise to pursue systemwide immigration reform, end migrant detention and expand opportunities for legal immigration across humanitarian, family and employment-based categories."
To schedule an interview with Norman or for more information, contact Jeff Falk, director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.
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