We have seen the President Trump’s proclamations and executive orders that affect international students and scholars. Would we continue to see how he rolls out immigration and education policies next year? Well, we don’t know yet, but certainly there is a group of people who are planning to build policies that would make American citizens to vote for them as they run for presidency against the current President Trump. Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders created unity task forces which are comprised of 48 lawyers, economists, scholars and activists to shape Democratic policy in 2020. In case you are super new to this topic, Sanders is not running for presidency this year but Biden is. While Sanders and Biden are polled top Democratic candidates, they fought against each other to be nominated for presidency 2020. This means, there are some areas where they don’t agree to each other. So why are they teaming up with each other? 6 policy-specific committees that Sanders and Biden have created are going to develop policies in the area of climate change, criminal justice reform, education, health care and immigration. By looking at who have been chosen to represent each joint task force, we can have a sneak peek of Democratic polices 2020. Again, it is important to as U.S. polices have a great impact on foreigners including students from abroad. We are witnessing how important who’s the leader of this country. Although no specific polices were announced yet, you will have a better idea of Democrats immigration and education polices.
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Related post 2: Chinese students and researchers visa ban by Trump
Contents
- Reasons behind the formation of unity task forces
- Representatives of Education Task Force
- Representatives of Immigration Task Force
Reasons of forming unity task forces
Teaming up is not easy especially when it comes to politics. Biden and Sanders have had disagreements on topics such as health care and social security. (We will see more conflicts between Sanders’s allies and Biden’s in the following paragraphs). However, when Sanders suspended his presidential campaign, he soon endorsed Biden in April. Soon after the endorsement, Sanders and Biden announced the joint unity task forces. From what they have said regarding the unity task forces below, it can be interpreted that Sanders wanted to include his progressive views in Democrats policy making for presidential election in 2020, while Biden needed Sanders’s inputs as well as supporters.
A united party is key to defeating Donald Trump this November and moving our country forward through an unprecedented crisis. … From health care to reforming our justice system to rebuilding a more inclusive and fair economy, the work of the task forces will be essential to identifying ways to build on our progress and not simply turn the clock back to a time before Donald Trump, but transform out country.
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee (IN THE74MILLION AND VOX)
I commend Joe Biden for working together with my campaign to assemble a group of leading thinkers and activists who can and will unify our party in a transformational and progressive direction.
Bernie Sanders (IN NPR.ORG)
Representatives of Education Task Force
Below is the list of members of education task force. We can see leaders from two big education groups, that include the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, are included in the task force. These two leaders are expected to assist Biden to shape K-12 education policies. Education task force team might have some uncomfortable moments which stem from different views. For example, Heather Gautney, a Fordham University sociologist and a co chair of education task force with Marcia Fudge, had criticized Biden until the last stage at this year’s primary. More than often, Gautney twitted and accused Biden of “dishonesty and betrayal of progressive causes.” Therefore, it would be interesting to see how they come to an agreement as one team despite of their differences. Other than co chairs, we can also get a glimpse of Democrats policies by looking at members’ focused research areas. For instance, Alejandro Adler’s major research area is student well being and Hirokazu Yoshikawa focuses on how policies affect immigration and how poverty affects child development.
From Sanders’s team
- Heather Gautney, task force co-chair and Sanders policy adviser
- Alejandro Adler, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University
- Hirokazu Yoshikawa, New York University professor
From Biden’s team
- Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), task force co-chair and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus
- Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association
- Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers
- Maggie Thompson, former executive director of Generation Progress
- Christie Vilsack, literacy advocate
Representatives of Immigration Task Force
Immigration task force will be co chaired by Lucille Roybal-Allard and Marielena Hincapié. Sanders and Biden have picked members who have assisted them throughout their campaigns. For example, Marielena Hincapié supported and assisted Sanders’s immigration policies and Juan Gonzalez advised Biden when he had served as a Vice President. It would be noteworthy to know how progressive views from Sanders will be well incorporated into Biden’s policy making for this year’s election.
From Sanders’s team
- Marielena Hincapié, task force co-chair and executive director of the National Immigration Law Center
- Marisa Franco, director of progressive Latinx group Mijente
- Javier Valdés, co-executive director of progressive immigration group Make the Road
From Biden’s team
- Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), task force co-chair and an original co-author of the Dream Act
- Cristóbal Alex, Biden campaign adviser
- Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX)
- Juan Gonzalez, adviser to Vice President Biden
- Nevada Lt. Gov. Kate Marshall
Although task forces are releasing their agenda and policies little by little, nothing has been announced yet in regards to education and immigration. As the joint take forces are expecting to have their first meeting in August, we may hear their plans on September or so. Make sure you subscribe to our newsletter so that you don’t miss any important updates about the presidential election 2020 that international students should be aware of.
References
- Vox: Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are building new, policy-focused task forces written by Ella Nilsen
- The74million: New Democratic ‘Unity Task Forces’ Include Education Adviser Who Previously Railed Against Biden’s ‘So-Called School Reform Agenda’ by Kevin Mahnken
- NPR news: Biden And Sanders Announce Task Forces To Find Party Unity Over Policy by Barbara Sprunt
- Forbes: Biden And Sanders Announce Education Unity Task Force by Wesley Whistle
