First modification:
With the lifting announced this Thursday at 11:59 p.m. of this device that allowed migrants to be deported without delay to Mexico in the name of the fight against Covid, the US authorities are expecting an influx of thousands of people.
On May 11, the rules for entering the United States by land change: “Title 42” is suppressed. This strict protocol to invalidate US immigration laws and prevent anyone without a visa from entering the country, even to apply for asylum, was intended to deter would-be exiles.
What is “Title 42”?
This public health measure dates back to World War II, when epidemics regularly ravaged the United States.
At the time of the Covid epidemic in 2020, the Donald Trump administration was quick to reactivate it to block all entry into the United States in the name of fighting the pandemic. With Title 42, there is no appeal possible: migrants detained without a residence permit are deported without delay to their country of transit – more exceptionally to their country of origin – regardless of their status.
Since his election, the Joe Biden government, after having extended it, has tried to lift this measure on several occasions, often judged as “inhumane”. Since March 2020, this measure has been applied more than 2.7 million times, according to official statistics.
What will change?
Once Title 42 is lifted, the United States will have to process all migrants under US immigration law, which allows them to apply for asylum to try to avoid deportation. Undocumented migrants arriving on foot across the Rio Grande River will no longer be able to be turned away manu militari, even before they have had a chance to file an asylum claim.
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President Joe Biden’s administration will lift Title 42, the strict protocol put in place by his predecessor Donald Trump to deny entry to migrants and deport asylum seekers. Instead, the US administration plans to deter illegal immigration with Title 8, which denies future legal residence in case of illegal entry and provides, unlike Title 42, for possible criminal prosecution of migrants turned away without visas.
Is there a danger of a knock effect?
With the end of this measure, authorities on both sides of the border fear an increase in crossing attempts.
And the matter is embarrassing for Joe Biden, who has just run for re-election. Although the Democrat wanted Title 42 lifted, the immigration issue remains thorny, and he doesn’t want to anger Republicans, who believe a day of “chaos” awaits Americans. Senator Lindsey Graham spoke of almost one million arrivals from Mexico in the next three months. May 11 will be “a nightmarish day for Americans, especially for the people of New Mexico and Texas,” two states that border Mexico, she said.
A concern shared by the Mexican president, Andrés Manual López Obrador. He warned would-be migrants to use legal entry routes. “Don’t be fooled, don’t be extorted by ‘coyotes’, by ‘smugglers’ who put you at risk (…). You don’t have to make the journey through Mexico,” López Obrador said Monday, recalling the programs implemented through the United States to access visas, a procedure that must be carried out in the country of origin.
The US Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, recalled that, even without Title 42, the law provides for the criminal prosecution of migrants rejected without a visa. “We are building legal channels and we are anticipating sanctions for those who do not use those channels.”
The Biden government has announced the deployment of an additional 1,500 soldiers to support US border police. Asked by reporters at the White House on Tuesday night whether the US was ready for the regulatory change, the US president said: “We’ll see. It’s going to be chaotic for a while.
