KEY PLAYER PROFILE

Susan Rice

Director of the Domestic Policy Council | Former National Security Advisor | Former Ambassador to the United Nations

As Director of the Domestic Policy Council (DPC), Susan Rice largely stays out of the public eye, yet her influence can be felt throughout President Biden’s immigration and border strategy. Increasingly, she has steered the administration away from its early campaign promises to counter former President Trump’s border policy with a more liberal one, instead focusing on more aggressive enforcement policies aimed at deterring the unprecedented surge in migration at the southern U.S. border.

As early as the spring of 2020, there were rumors that Rice would have a role in the Biden administration, but many commentators were surprised when she was ultimately tapped as director of the DPC. As a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Advisor to the Obama administration, Rice’s background seemed a better fit for a position shaping foreign policy. Indeed, she was once Obama’s top choice to replace former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, but was forced to drop out of the running after coming under fire from Republicans for defending the Obama administration’s response to the 2012 Benghazi attacks. Reserving Rice for a behind-the-scenes job — and one that did not require a confirmation hearing — was likely a move designed to spare her another public melee. 

Even before she took office, Rice cautioned that easing the Trump administration’s hawkish immigration restrictions too quickly might encourage migrants and asylum seekers to come to the southern border before the government established the capacity to process them. When migrants did indeed begin to arrive, setting off record border apprehensions in mid-2021, Rice directed a pivot toward enforcement and deterrence. She nixed a plan to vaccinate migrants in U.S. custody, arguing that it might incentivize border crossing, and scrapped early efforts to end Title 42 deportations. She was also reportedly one of several officials who pushed for the rapid deportation of thousands of Haitian nationals who arrived en masse in Del Rio, Texas, in late summer 2021, arguing that an early crackdown would dissuade others from making the trek in the future. Critics viewed the deportations as particularly harsh due to extreme instability in Haiti, a country that many of the migrants had fled years ago to settle across South America before beginning their journeys to the U.S.

Rice’s influence demonstrates the extent to which the administration has had to rein in its early ambition on immigration and border security reform. Indeed, the emphasis on damage control on the border may ultimately sidetrack Rice’s own initial plans. In an interview before taking office, she outlined a three-pillar immigration plan that would commit $4 billion in aid over four years to struggling Northern Triangle countries, expand family reunification and employment-based immigration opportunities, and expedite the asylum process while minimizing immigrant detention. Whether she can still achieve these goals during her tenure remains to be seen.

SOURCES:

Rice’S IDEAS

  • Border Security

    As migration has soared on the southern U.S. border, Rice has pushed for a strategy focused on strict enforcement and deterrence. She nixed a plan to vaccinate migrants in U.S. custody, arguing it might incentivize migration, and has reportedly opposed ending Title 42.

  • Border Wall

    In 2019, Rice and 57 other former U.S. government officials signed a letter opposing the declaration of a national emergency on the southern border to obtain funding for a border wall.

  • Detention

    Before taking office, Rice stated that the administration intended to reduce immigrant detention, instead relying on case managers and “other innovative programs” to ensure immigrants appear for necessary court dates.

  • Immigration Courts

    Rice proposed that in order to make the asylum process more efficient, the Biden administration should “[enable] asylum officers to adjudicate claims so asylum seekers aren’t tied up in court proceedings for years.” In May 2022, the administration enacted this on a small scale through its Interim Final Rule on Asylum program.

  • Undocumented Population

    Rice has emphasized that providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants is a priority of the Biden administration, but that the President will attempt to do so through the legislature, not by executive order.

  • ICE

    No statement found.

  • DACA

    Rice has previously expressed support for the DACA program. In 2019, she joined 51 former U.S. national security officials in filing a brief voicing their opposition to President Trump’s decision to rescind the DACA program.

  • Asylum & Refugees

    “The President-elect is committed to restoring and honoring our asylum laws, including at the border, and many of the outgoing administration’s policies will be rolled back right away,” said Rice in an interview in 2020. However, she voiced caution about ending the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols and Title 42 restriction before the administration had the capacity to receive asylum-seekers at the border.

  • Central America Policy

    As National Security Advisor, Rice was one of the architects of the Obama administration’s Central American aid plan, including efforts to provide anti-drug-trafficking training to law enforcement in the region. In an interview in 2020, Rice laid out a three-pillar immigration plan to commit $4 billion in aid over 4 years to struggling Northern Triangle countries, expand family reunification and employment-based immigration opportunities, and expedite the asylum process while minimizing immigrant detention.

  • Visas

    As part of a three-pillar immigration policy, Rice said the Biden administration will attempt to address the flow of migrants from Central America by expanding pathways for legal immigration, including through family-sponsored and employment-based green cards, refugee status, and temporary worker status.

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