House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders called on the Biden administration on Sunday to immediately extend the country’s deportation ban, calling it a “moral obligation” to prevent Americans from being evicted from their homes during the COVID-19 surge.
An estimated 3.6 million Americans are at risk of deportation, some of which may be deported on Monday.
Congress was unable to quickly pass legislation to extend the ban, which expired at midnight on Saturday, and Democratic leaders said in a statement that it is now up to President Joe Biden’s administration to take action. They called on the government to extend the moratorium to October 18.
“Action needs to be taken, and it must come from the government,” Pelosi said in a statement signed by Majority Leader Stanney Hoyer, Party Whip James E. Clayburn and Assistant Speaker Catherine Clark. “Science and reason require that they must also extend the suspension period based on the delta variant. Doing so is a moral imperative.”
As the coronavirus ban on evictions ends, advocates worry that homelessness will increase
The White House has urged locals and states to take advantage of aid approved by Congress, but has not directly responded to the Democratic Party’s call for action.
Some Democrats said that they were surprised when Biden announced last Thursday that he would not extend the moratorium again, because a Supreme Court ruling indicated that Congress must take action to extend the moratorium again. Legislators had only a few days to act before the ban expired, which caused frustration and anger, and exposed rare rifts with the government.
On Sunday, just a few hours after the expiration date, DN.Y. Rep. Alexander Ocasio-Cortez said that the Democrats must be “outspoken” and point to her own party.
“When the Democrats in the House of Representatives have a majority, we cannot sincerely blame the Republicans,” the progressive congresswoman said in CNN’s “State of the Union Address.”
Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats joined the ranks of Democratic Rep. Corey Bush, who camped outside the Capitol in protest over the weekend.
On Saturday, as there were no pending legislative actions, the Chairman of the Financial Services Commission and California Rep. Maxine Waters told CNN, “We believe the White House is responsible.”
When jobs are shifted and many workers lose income, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will implement the ban as part of the COVID-19 response. The ban is intended to prevent the virus from spreading on the streets and among people in shelters.
Another reason for the frustration of lawmakers is the slowness of the pandemic relief measures that Congress has approved — nearly $47 billion in federal housing assistance to states — to pay tenants and landlords arrears. Biden called on local governments to “take all possible measures” to allocate funds immediately.
Biden said in a statement on Friday: “There is no excuse in any state or place not to expedite the provision of funds to landlords and tenants who have been harmed by this pandemic.”
The director of the White House National Economic Council, Brian Deese, appeared on the “Fox Sunday News” program to echo this sentiment. “Landlords shouldn’t evict without seeking rent assistance. The state and locality need to take out this money urgently, and they can do that,” Diess said.
The landlord also advocates speeding up the distribution of rent assistance and opposes another extension.
As the deadline approaches Saturday night, Pelosi urged House Democrats to check the distribution of funds that have been allocated so far in their own states and localities. She said that the Ministry of Finance, which transferred funds earlier this year, proposed to inform lawmakers of the situation next week.
When the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in late June to allow the widespread deportation injunction to last until the end of July, one of the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, made it clear that he would prevent any additional extensions unless there is a ” Clear and specific congressional authorization.”
The White House insisted that Biden wanted to extend the moratorium, but still expressed concern about challenging the court. Doing so may result in rulings that limit the government’s ability to respond to future public health crises.
With the reopening of the Landlord and Tenant Committee on Tuesday, thousands of Ontario renters are preparing for eviction
While racing to respond to Biden’s announcement on Thursday that Congress needed action, the Democrats did their best to draft a bill and gather votes. Waters drafted a draft bill requiring the CDC to continue the ban until December 31. At a hurriedly scheduled hearing on Friday morning, she urged her colleagues to take action.
Finally, Democratic legislators have questions and concerns and cannot call in support to extend the ban.
Rep. Kathy McMorris Rogers of Washington, the top Republican on another group dealing with the issue, said that the Democratic bill was rushed, “this is not the way to legislate.”
Associated Press writer Alexandra Jaffe contributed to this report.
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