Biden may close border despite promises
2023.01.08 04:11
Biden may close border despite promises
Budrigannews.com – This week, U.S. President Joe Biden took the action of blocking migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. The move aims to reduce record crossings and protect Biden from Republican criticism, but it goes against his campaign promise to restore asylum access.
The initial opposition to Biden’s policy shift also suggests that it may be challenged in court by advocates for asylum seekers and those who favor restricting immigration.
On Thursday, the Democratic president unveiled a new two-pronged strategy that combines deterrent measures that prevent Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border with the opening of new legal, limited entry points for them into the United States.
Biden stated in a speech delivered at the White House, “We can’t stop people from making the journey, but we can require them to come here… in an orderly manner under U.S. law.”
Even though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated in April 2021 that they were no longer required for reasons related to public health, some fellow Democrats, former Biden officials, and advocates for immigration criticized his decision to expand COVID border restrictions that were implemented under Republican former President Donald Trump.
Title 42 of the restrictions allows authorities in the United States to quickly send migrants caught at the border back to Mexico without giving them a chance to apply for asylum in the United States. Before recently agreeing to accept Venezuelans in October and now the additional nationalities, Mexico had only been accepting returns of its own citizens and some Central Americans.
The Biden administration attempted to lift Title 42 border restrictions the previous year, but U.S. courts have left them in place, prompting ongoing legal action.
Despite the administration’s obligation to uphold the Title 42 order, some enraged advocates argue that it does not need to expand its scope.
Alida Garcia, vice president of advocacy at the pro-immigration group FWD.us and former senior adviser on migration for Biden, stated, “It doesn’t make sense to say you’re opposed to it but also expand it.”
Certainly, the plan is viewed as a practical approach by some Democrats and analysts to deal with the record number of migrants arriving at the border in the absence of a legislative solution from Congress.
The Biden administration now has time to experiment with various strategies thanks to the court rulings that preserved the Title 42 order. If they have sponsors in the United States, up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela will be eligible to apply for air-based temporary legal entry into the United States under Biden’s new program.
“A testing period to see whether the legal pathways can ease the pressures at the border,” according to Angela Kelley, a former senior counselor for immigration and border at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Biden.
At a press briefing on Friday, White House officials defended Biden’s immigration record, stating that he had expanded a humanitarian program that provides work permits and deportation relief to certain immigrants lacking permanent status in the United States and opened new legal pathways for migrants from Central America.
John Kirby (NYSE:) stated, “This is a president who understands that safe and legal immigration into this country is a key cornerstone of our own security and prosperity.” spokesperson for the National Security Council of the White House.
Even as their party struggled to select a speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives, Republicans did not appear to abate their attacks on Biden’s border record, despite the fact that the new border restrictions earned him praise from some Democrats, such as Senator Joe Manchin.
In a statement on Friday, Democratic chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, U.S. Representative Nanette Barragan, praised the new legal pathways for migrants but expressed disappointment with the expansion of Title 42, which “has denied asylum seekers their rights to due process for far too long.”
Human Rights First’s refugee protection director Eleanor Acer stated that while increasing the number of legal entry points for migrants is a positive development, the asylum restrictions are “right out of the Trump playbook.”
Acer stated, “The Biden administration is saying that they will be making tweaks,” but “at the end of the day, it is still an entry and transit ban.”
The humanitarian entry program for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans builds on a program Biden started in October that let up to 24,000 Venezuelans apply to fly into the United States while blocking Venezuelans at the border.
The Mexican government says that the program that started in October brought in approximately 11,500 Venezuelans, while the number of Venezuelans caught at the US-Mexico border fell dramatically.
Women’s Refugee Commission senior policy adviser Savitri Arvey stated that the Venezuela program “didn’t address the needs of the most vulnerable people” and favored wealthy migrants with U.S. connections and passports.
Both conservatives attempting to halt the humanitarian entry program and immigration advocates opposing any proposed changes that limit asylum access and accelerate deportations could pose legal challenges.
It’s also possible that Biden’s plan won’t stop people from crossing the border. Although the number of Venezuelans crossing the border decreased after they were stopped in October, it is unknown if this trend will continue with other nationalities.
To avoid detection, migrants could also take riskier routes. That could necessitate perilous boat trips for Haitians and Cubans.
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