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This Thursday, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, announced a new package of immigration policies. As of its entry into force, citizens of Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba who attempt to cross illegally will be expelled immediately. And, as punishment, they will face five years without being able to enter the United States. This as a prelude to the first trip that the president will make to the border with Mexico.
Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Venezuelans are going to have a more difficult time crossing the US border. This Thursday, President Joe Biden announced that he will “hot” expel citizens of these countries who cross illegally and, to do so, will make use of the immigration laws inherited from the presidency of Donald Trump.
“This new process is orderly, safe and humane (…) To migrants from these countries I say: do not just show up at the border,” Biden said in his speech on border security from the White House.
In exchange, the Democratic president announced that he will allow the entry of up to 30,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela per month for two years. But, applicants for this legal migration must meet a series of requirements: they must have a “sponsor” or demonstrable ties to the United States and pass investigation and background checks.
“The message is clear. People should stay where they are and start the process there,” added Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of National Security.
As punishment, those who try to cross the border illegally expose themselves to a ban on entering the country for five years under Title 8 – which will be heir to Title 42.
In this regard, groups defending the rights of migrants called the new policy “dangerous, confusing and inefficient.” Among the problems they point out are the controversial hot return and the veto if you enter illegally.
“We are deeply disappointed by the announcement of a ‘traffic ban’ that will drastically limit the legal rights of those seeking asylum and protection at the southern border. We urge President Biden to back away from policies that undermine our values and the goal, promised by the Government, of a fairer, more humane and orderly immigration system,” Sergio González, director of the Immigration Hub, told the EFE news agency.
“A ‘carrot and stick’ approach may work with donkeys, but it will never work with people fleeing violence,” the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project organization said on social media.
A “carrot and stick” approach may work with donkeys, it will never work with people fleeing violence.@POTUS don’t expel #AsylumSeekers trying to find safe haven. The US needs their skills, courage, and tenacity to fill its shrinking labor pool and boost the economy #EndTitle42 https://t.co/jv89i4Scq2
— Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) (@asylumadvocacy) January 5, 2023
Added to this is the criticism against Title 42, the public health law -imposed during the pandemic by Trump- that supports deportations on the fly and that the United States Supreme Court is expected to review next February.
The Biden government has already tried to lift the measure before, but the Supreme Court has ordered it to maintain it cautiously due to the situation at the border.
The organizations also reproach the president that this type of advertisement is far from one of his campaign promises: to protect the rights of migrants.
Joe Biden’s problems managing the border
The United States border with Mexico has been a headache for the president since he took office. But it has been getting worse over time.
In the past year, irregular migration broke records and has become a weapon for the conservative opposition. The Republicans maintain that they are suffering an “invasion” and have even threatened to impeach Mayorkas. They have also blocked funds in Congress for Biden’s immigration reforms and to finance current immigration agencies.
“We don’t have enough immigration judges to adjudicate asylum applications,” the president said of the funding problem.
For its part, Mexico, which functions as a retaining wall for the United States, celebrated the news. According to this same plan, that country will accept up to 30,000 migrants expelled from the neighboring nation per month.
“Mexico welcomes the announcement of new actions by the US to achieve orderly, safe, regular and humane migration,” published by the Government on its official website.
But, if the current migratory flow continues, neither the asylum vacancies in the United States nor the returns to Mexico would be enough to contain the migrants. In the month of November alone, at least 82,000 people from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua tried to reach the US through Mexico, according to US government data.
And it is that, so far, the immigration policies of the Biden administration have been shown to be insufficient and have received criticism, even within the party itself.
“Maintaining Title 42 is a disastrous and inhumane relic of the Trump Administration’s racist immigration agenda,” said Democratic Senator Bob Menendez.
On Sunday, Joe Biden will visit El Paso on his first trip to the Mexican border since taking office. There, the Democratic stronghold has tried in recent months to weather the massive arrival of migrants, which will be the main item on the president’s agenda during his stay.
And, on Monday, he will continue his trip to Mexico City to meet with his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This migration crisis is also expected to be one of the central themes of the meeting.
With EFE, AP and Reuters
