IT'S A START...:

 Last Sunday, on World Refugee Day, Joe Biden laid out how he would reverse Trump's assault by committing to several essential immigration actions: Having pledged that if he is elected he will restore "America's historic role as leader in resettlement and defending the rights of refugees everywhere," Biden had set specific targets that will increase refugee resettlement in the United States. His plan would aim to admit 125,000 refugees to the U.S. (that's up from a ceiling of 18,000 under Trump, and more than Obama admitted). In his announcement last week he added a new pledge: to work with Congress to establish a minimum admissions number of at least 95,000 refugees annually. In addition to those actions, Biden has promised to:

pursue policies that increase opportunities for faith and local communities to sponsor refugee resettlement. I will make more channels, such as higher education visas, available to those seeking safety. I will repeal the Muslim ban -- and other discriminatory bans based on ethnicity and nationality -- and restore asylum laws, including ending the horrific practice of separating families at our border. I will work with our allies and partners to stand against China's assault on Hong Kong's freedoms and mass detention and repression of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities and support a pathway for those persecuted to find safe haven in the United States and other nations.

The proposal mirrors the plan set forth in the Refugee Protection Act of 2019, now pending a vote in the House of Representatives. It signals that Biden isn't just running against Trump's anti-Muslim, anti-refugee, anti-immigrant dog whistles, but is also committing energy, and more importantly, resources, to fulfilling the United States' reputation as a nation that welcomes those in need of shelter, and also to making the US government a central player in solving a global refugee crisis that has only grown more exigent as a result of COVID-19. It signals that Biden understands that solving the refugee crisis is both a hefty administrative lift, and also a moral and democratic imperative. Also notable is that Biden isn't seeking to simply return to Obama-era policies, but is going farther, faster, in a tacit statement that Barack Obama's immigration legacy was not, in fact, anything to celebrate.

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