Immigration has long been used as a wedge issue during election years, and this year was no different. Many candidates peddled falsehoods and racist tropes about an “invasion” to instill fear and win support for their campaigns. America’s Voice, an immigration advocacy organization, identified over 3,200 different paid communications that employed anti-immigrant attacks. And that’s not to mention the cynical publicity stunts by governors who attempted to sow division by placing asylum seekers on flights and buses to communities like Martha’s Vineyard, showing politics at its worst.

However, big spending on anti-immigrant ads largely flopped as a political strategy this election cycle, and immigrants’ rights victories across multiple states showed that a bipartisan pathway toward immigration reform not only exists, but would be popular with voters.

In the two states with high-profile immigration ballot measures, voters rejected fear-based politics.

Massachusetts voters resoundingly upheld a new law that allows undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses, a key measure for both racial equity and public safety. A broad coalition of labor, faith, and immigrant rights organizations, along with law enforcement officials like sheriffs and district attorneys, endorsed the new law, and voters ultimately reaffirmed their support for the driver’s licenses for all policy by voting yes on Question 4, despite a divisive attempt to repeal it.

Arizona voters approved a bipartisan ballot measure, Proposition 308, that allows Arizona students to pay the reduced in-state tuition rates for public colleges and universities regardless of immigration status. This affirmative endorsement of immigrants’ rights represents a watershed moment in a state once known for anti-immigrant officials like Joe Arpaio. As in Massachusetts, the ballot measure in Arizona garnered support across the ideological spectrum, bringing conservatives and progressives, and business and labor groups together to lead the coalition.

While many immigrants’ rights champions in Congress had a good night, several candidates who promoted the Great Replacement theory were defeated. In two bellwether House districts, a candidate who called for a “10-year moratorium on immigration” in order to “lock down our country” and another whose campaign had a heavy focus on the false connection between immigration and drug trafficking both lost their races. While some anti-immigrant candidates saw victories in their states, by and large, many voters across the country rejected the politics of division.

The election also saw voters reject programs that entangle local law enforcement with Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE). Residents in two Massachusetts counties backed candidates for sheriff who opposed working with ICE’s 287(g) program, which is notorious for enabling racial profiling and other abuses, and rejected their opponents who supported collaboration with ICE, including one with a record of using violence against immigrants. In North Carolina, a former sheriff who had previously worked with ICE’s 287(g) program failed in his comeback attempt. Similarly, two House candidates who championed the 287(g) program and vocally opposed sanctuary legislation also lost their races.

American Civil Liberties Union

Stop ICE From Empowering Racist Sheriffs: End 287(g) Agreements | American Civil Liberties Union

For years the 287(g) program has allowed for sheriffs to target and attack immigrants in their communities.

On the heels of these election results, there is a unique chance to enact policy change. While there are many issues that need to be addressed, Congress can start by:

In this lame duck session, members of Congress have the opportunity to finally provide relief to people in legal limbo. Two-thirds of voters support Congress creating a path to permanent legal status for Dreamers, and 63 percent of voters support creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals, according to the 2022 Midterm Voter Election Poll conducted by the African American Research Collaborative. Congress should see this broad support as a message that they must work with their colleagues across party lines to pass legislation that creates a roadmap to citizenship.

A federal court recently struck down the Title 42 ban, the cruel and unlawful policy which used public health as a false excuse to block so many people from exercising their right to seek asylum, instead sending them straight back into harm’s way. This ruling must finally bring an end to the Title 42 ban. If some members of Congress attempt to override the courts and extend the policy, Congress and the Biden administration should reject such efforts and instead focus on rebuilding a humane, fair, and orderly asylum system.

American Civil Liberties Union

Five Things to Know About the Title 42 Immigrant Expulsion Policy | News & Commentary | American Civil Liberties Union

Since March 2020, the government has misused the order to kick out people seeking asylum more than 1.7 million times.

The Biden administration can also show up for immigrant communities by:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should wind down ICE programs that tap state and local law enforcement agencies to assist in deportations. Many offices involved in the 287(g) program have sordid records of civil rights abuses, including racial profiling and inhumane detention practices, and should not be partners of the Biden administration

The Biden administration inherited immense challenges as a result of former President Trump’s family separation policy, and acted quickly to create the Family Reunification Task Force. The task force must remain diligent in finding still-missing families, and the administration must also deliver safety and care for affected families. This begins by allowing deported families to reunite in the U.S., protecting them from deportation once here, and providing damages and assistance, including trauma-informed care, to begin to repair the tremendous harms done to them. Moreover, the administration must make sure it does not repeat the same cruel policies that led to family separation in the first place.

DHS should follow through with President Biden’s pledge to end for-profit immigrant detention and terminate contracts that waste taxpayer dollars while filling the coffers of private prison corporations.

Despite terminating the Muslim and African Bans, many people are still impacted by the remnants of these policies. This includes thousands of Diversity Visa winners who had their visas revoked during the Trump administration as a result of their racist bans. It’s imperative that anyone whose Diversity Visa was blocked or revoked because of these bans have their visa reinstated.

When voters are directly asked questions related to immigration on the ballot, they will support their immigrant neighbors, colleagues, and friends. When voters can be this bold, they are demanding that our elected officials and the Biden administration be bold as well.

As we near the end of 2022 and the second anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Congress has the opportunity to pass much-needed reforms to the Electoral Count Act of 1887. The Electoral Count Act governs the process of casting and counting the Electoral College votes for president and vice president.

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As the events of January 2021 made clear, the current law contains poorly drafted language governing critical aspects of the election certification process, leaving it vulnerable to exploitation. Attempting to take advantage of the ambiguities in the Electoral Count Act on January 6, the former president and his supporters asserted that the vice president could change the election outcome. This resulted in the worst attack on our Capitol since the British set it on fire in 1814.

To fix the Electoral Count Act and provide much-needed clarity for the process of counting electoral votes, Sens. Susan Collins and Joe Manchin brought together a bipartisan group of senators over the past year to draft and introduce the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 this July. Under their leadership, this bill has secured wider bipartisan support, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

The Electoral Count Reform Act would ensure that the Electoral College votes tallied by Congress reflect the election results of each state’s popular vote for president. To do this, the bill provides some clarity on the roles and interactions between federal and state entities in this process. Specifically, the bill reiterates the role of the vice president is solely clerical and that they cannot unilaterally accept, reject, or adjudicate the validity of electors or electoral votes. The bill also raises the threshold for the required number of senators and representatives needed to object to electoral votes.

And to ensure that Congress can identify a single, conclusive slate of electors from each state, the Electoral Count Reform Act reiterates that electors must be appointed on Election Day and provides further definition of the narrow set of circumstances that are exceptions to this requirement.

Because of the bipartisan stewardship of these members, reforming the Electoral Count Act is close to crossing the finish line of this Congress. In September, the Senate Rules Committee voted to pass the Electoral Count Reform Act out of committee, a necessary step before a full Senate vote can happen, in a bipartisan vote of 14-1. And earlier that month, the House of Representatives passed the Presidential Election Reform Act in a bipartisan vote of 229-203. Introduced by Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Liz Cheney, the House bill reflects a similar general framework as the Senate legislation to update the Electoral Count Act, and is based on recommendations from the House Administration Committee, which is responsible for the oversight of federal elections and the day-to-day operations of the House of Representatives.

These bipartisan, bicameral efforts to reform and modernize the Electoral Count Act by senators and representatives is a prime example of what elected officials can do when they work together. Every American should be confident that the presidential election results from their states will be honored. Reforming the Electoral Count Act is the first step toward repairing our democracy and ensuring a peaceful transfer of power, which is a cornerstone of American democracy.

It’s time for Congress to pass the Electoral Count Reform Act and address the vulnerabilities in our electoral system. We hope that members will continue their commitment to set aside their party differences in the new Congress, and work to preserve our democracy and protect the will of the American people by passing legislation to ensure access to and protect the right to vote.

I have not always understood what it means to be transgender, and I did not always support transgender rights. But, as I watched my son Parker suffer, I learned more, and I keep trying every day to understand what he goes through. Seeing firsthand the benefits of gender-affirming healthcare for Parker has opened my eyes to see that this is definitely the right thing.

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I wish I could say that my little dude has spent his entire life being comfortable in his own skin, but that is just not true for Parker. Before he started his gender-affirming medical care, Parker was depressed, anxious, and withdrawn. I worried for his safety. He wore 5 sports bras to cover his body and couldn’t bear to see himself in the mirror after a shower.

Like all of us, he just wants to look in the mirror and see the person that he is on the inside staring back at him so he can go about his day. We all want our kids to be happy and live their best, most productive lives, and this ban would really put up a roadblock for that to happen for Parker.

Gender-affirming health care has helped Parker become the happy, healthy, confident guy he is today. Now he’s funny, outgoing, and always ready to face the day. He loves being active in choir, with his friends, and volunteering in our community. His transformation has been amazing to watch. That’s what is so hard about other people trying to take away the medical care that has enabled him to be his best self. I am worried all the progress Parker has made could be undone.

This law does not protect kids. It is not what is best for teens, or for Arkansas. In our amazing community we are very supported — this is our shelter. If we are forced to leave our shelter for the unknown in another state, that’s the hardest part of this whole thing. If we go somewhere else, he will lose the safety and support of the community that we have here. This is Parker’s home. Parker should not have to leave his home to get his health care.