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House Republicans voted in favor of a bill that seeks to build more walls on the Mexican border. This decision reflects the intention to oppose the immigration policies of President Joe Biden, while migrants crowd the border after the end of Title 42, a measure taken during the Donald Trump term, which allowed migrants to be returned without examining their application. of asylum, in the name of the fight against Covid-19.
A political proposal with very few chances of becoming law, but which has a strong symmetrical value. In the US House of Representatives, Republican lawmakers have backed an initiative that aims to build more barriers on the border with Mexico and implement new limitations on those seeking asylum.
US President Joe Biden has already announced that he will veto the bill to prevent it from becoming law, while Democrats, who have a slim lead in the Senate, have strongly condemned the bill, calling it “cruel” and “anti-immigrant.”
The bill was approved with 219 votes in favor and 213 against. All House Democrats voted against it and two Republicans voted against it.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called the proposal “the strongest border security legislation this country has ever seen,” declaring in a speech to the House that “in the meantime, we see a very different outcome from of President Biden.”
Despite the challenges at the southern border, which the president does not deny, Joe Biden has stated that he will continue to seek legal alternatives to illegal migration. For his part, the Republicans seek to blame the president for the increase in migration during his term. By adopting this bill, House Republicans can say they have fulfilled their campaign promise to strengthen border security.
However, it took months for Republicans to agree on the bill in the House. The legislation had to be amended several times to assuage the concerns of various legislators.
The 213-page bill represents a commitment by Republicans to strike a balance between some lawmakers who just wanted to strengthen controls at the border and more radical conservatives who called for drastic changes to eligibility laws. asylum and immigration laws.
“A 14th century solution to a 21st century problem”
The right of migrants to seek asylum in the event of political, religious or racial persecution is recognized by both US and international law. However, conservatives argue that many people are taking advantage of the current system to live and work in the United States while their asylum application is being processed.
The bill they voted for parallels many of the policies promoted by former President Donald Trump, such as building walls along the border. In addition, it restricts asylum by requiring migrants to cross legally, pay fees, and undergo more rigorous processes to prove during interviews that they have credible grounds for persecution in their country of origin.
“This extreme Republican MAGA bill will expel children who are fleeing, in many cases, extreme violence and persecution,” Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democratic official, said during a news conference Thursday. “He will build a medieval border wall that is a 14th century solution to a 21st century problem.”
Repeal of Title 42
Thousands of migrants from all over Latin America wait at the southern border of the United States for the repeal of Title 42 to favor them. This health restriction was adopted in March 2020 during the presidency of Donald Trump and allowed the expulsion of undocumented people without even examining the legitimacy of their asylum application.
With the repeal of the restriction, the city of El Paso, Texas declared a state of emergency effective May 1. The country’s authorities fear an even greater increase in applicants to enter the United States, often deceived by traffickers and by the disinformation circulating on social networks and on websites of the American far-right.
“We are doing everything possible,” Joe Biden said on Tuesday, May 9, although he acknowledged that “it will be chaotic for a while.”
Biden was slow to remove this sanitary provision, as he had promised during his campaign. At that time, it provoked the fury of the left wing of the Democratic Party and of organizations that defend human rights, who consider that it was a breach of duty to welcome the country.
The Biden administration’s removal of all health restrictions, and therefore Title 42, has raised hopes for an easier path to asylum in the United States. However, the Secretary of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, stressed on Wednesday, May 10, that the repeal of this provision “does not mean that our border is open.” “In fact, it’s the opposite,” he insisted.
PA
