President Joe Biden did the right thing with his recent executive order giving Hong Kong citizens in the United States an opportunity to stay here for another 18 months. That should give Congress time to pass legislation restoring Hong Kong’s special status for visa applications that President Donald Trump canceled last year.
The Chinese crackdown in Hong Kong has made every resident who participated in demonstrations against last year’s sweeping new security law vulnerable to prosecution by Chinese authorities.
Indeed, hundreds if not thousands of pro-democracy protesters already have been rounded up, and many more are at risk of arrest and prosecution. The security law and other measures undermined Hong Kong’s judicial independence, in violation of China’s agreement with Britain codified in the Hong Kong Basic Law.
The exodus resulting from the Chinese crackdown on Hong Kong’s independent status is likely to be large, and thankfully the free world is responding.
The United Kingdom said it was willing to accept nearly half of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million inhabitants. Australia also has opened its doors. But the United States has not been as welcoming so far.
Late last year, in a welcome move, the House passed a bill restoring Hong Kong’s special visa status that was canceled by President Trump as part of a series of anti-immigration decisions.
But the bill was blocked from unanimous consent in the Senate by Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who cited fears that China would exploit the bill to obtain visas for spies. That is a legitimate concern, not only for the United States but for the United Kingdom and other countries, but it should not override the need to help people who risked their freedom and possibly their lives by standing up for democracy.
To do so would be shameful and profoundly antithetical to American values.
President Biden’s decision, within his powers under immigration law, is a welcome but temporary relief for thousands of Hong Kong residents in the United States who face deportation back to China.
Now it is up to Congress to give them permanent relief. This question should not become entangled in the endless congressional stalemate over immigration reform. The need to act now is urgent.