Indiana immigration advocates react to Biden’s executive orders

(WISH) — Many Latinos in Indiana tell News 8 they’re looking forward to a brighter future as the Biden administration announced executive actions to reunite migrant children separated from parents at the border during the Trump administration.

“Why should the children suffer?” said Tippecanoe County Democratic Party Chair Heather Maddox.

“No matter what you think about immigration, it just wasn’t right to do,” said Maddox.

According to Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus Communications Chair Luisa Lopez-Macer, these changes taken by the Biden administration are a step in the right direction to bring a positive change for many immigrants.

“It just shows the commitment that our own government has in making sure that these families aren’t separated and giving them a future to succeed. It is imperative that we put families first and that we put our black and brown communities first so that this does not continue to happen in the future,” said Lopez-Macer.

A second action focuses on creating a humane asylum system. Biden pledges to ensure that asylum seekers have access to legal avenues to the U.S. and make changes to a host of proclamations pushed by the Trump administration.

“President Biden’s executive actions will begin to restore hope and fairness to our immigration system. Ten days ago, he already signed an order to renew protection for DACA recipients,” said Indiana Latino Institute President & CEO Marlene Dotson.

The Biden administration says they are also taking steps to prevent family separations from happening again, but some immigrants say they are worried that these reforms will be pushed back as Biden works to address the COVID-19 pandemic.