Joe Biden says new rules allowing asylum seekers to be returned to Mexico aim to reduce arrivals at US southern border.
The United States has announced that it will turn back migrants and refugees from Nicaragua, Haiti, and Cuba who try to enter the country without permits at the border with Mexico. The announcement was made as part of efforts to stem the arrival of migrants and refugees.
The US will accept up to 30,000 people per month from these countries, along with Venezuela, and will provide them with two-year work authorization if they have sponsors in the US and pass background checks. However, anyone who tries to irregularly cross the border will be ineligible for the program and will be returned to Mexico. Mexico has agreed to take back 30,000 people per month from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti.
The new policy announced by the United States marks a significant change in US immigration rules, and it will remain in place even as the US Supreme Court considers ending a border expulsion policy called Title 42, which allows authorities to quickly expel asylum seekers without offering them a chance to seek protection.
The new policy includes a program that could allow 360,000 people from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti to enter the US annually, which has been viewed as a positive aspect of the policy. The US has seen an increase in the number of asylum seekers arriving at its southern border with Mexico, which has led to pressure on the Biden administration by Republican politicians who argue that the administration is not doing enough to secure the border.
The Biden administration has tried to deter migrants and refugees from arriving at the border while also defending Title 42 in court, despite criticism from rights groups who say the measure puts asylum seekers’ lives at risk.
The United States has seen an increase in the number of asylum seekers arriving at its southern border with Mexico. The arrivals are driven by various factors including gang violence, political turmoil, environmental disasters, and socioeconomic crises. Rights advocates argue that US deterrence policies have done little to reduce the number of arrivals.
Data from US Customs and Border Protection shows that border authorities have used Title 42, a border expulsion policy, to turn away more than 2.5 million migrants and refugees since it was first invoked by former President Donald Trump in March 2020. The policy was intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated in April 2020 that it was no longer necessary on public health grounds.
The policy was set to be rescinded, but a US federal judge ordered in November 2020 that it be lifted. The US Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether Republican-led states can challenge the end of the policy, leaving it in place for the time being. President Joe Biden will travel to the southern border in Texas on Sunday to meet with local officials and discuss their needs.
He will also visit Mexico City on Monday to meet with North American leaders. Some Republican governors, led by Greg Abbott in Texas, have been sending busloads of migrants and refugees to Democratic-run cities in an effort to “share the burden” of arrivals in US border communities. Critics have described the policy as inhumane and a political stunt that puts people in danger.
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