Joe Biden’s government is giving a new twist to its immigration policy with the principle that inspires it: more legal channels of arrival and more difficulties for irregular immigration. This time he does it with the pressure that on May 11 the health emergency due to the pandemic expires legally in the United States and, with it, the so-called Title 42, which allows rapid returns of immigrants.

The United States fears an increase in the migratory flow at the border with Mexico and announced this Thursday, on the one hand, more control measures and, on the other hand, the extension of legal migratory routes to the countries of Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras) and South America (Colombia). Among the new developments, Washington has agreed with other countries to create immigration centers in the region, where between 5,000 and 6,000 applications will be processed and assessed each month.

“We have an obligation to weed out human traffickers from the process,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said this morning. “We are building roads for people to reach the United States without having to depend on traffickers, but at the same time we are imposing consequences on those who do not use these roads and emigrate irregularly,” the official added during the meeting. an appearance with Antony Blinken. , Biden’s foreign secretary. Authorities have arrested some 10,000 human traffickers, or polleros, since April last year.

Several administration officials warned on Thursday that the end of Title 42 does not mean “that the border is open”. The standard, first used in 1929 to contain Asian immigration, was saved by President Donald Trump in March 2020 for health reasons at the start of the pandemic.

The Republican opposition, led by Donald Trump, accuses Mayorkas of being responsible for an “invasion” on the border with Mexico and immigration has become one of the axes of political debate in the United States. Immigrants are needed to fill vacancies, but Republicans have constructed a discourse in which they attempt to identify them with crime.

The impending end of the measure has strained the southern border of the United States. Authorities in dozens of towns bordering Mexico have held extraordinary assemblies to prepare for an increase in the arrival of migrants. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who leads the toughest wing of Republicans on immigration policy, reported this week that he will mobilize special groups of the National Guard to 33 counties to contain the flow, which could reach up to 18,000 illegal crossings per day.

This Thursday, officials explained that even if the measure expires, the United States will continue to deport people who arrive illegally on the basis of Title 8, another regulation that has helped regulate the border for Democrats and Republicans. for decades. Blinken and Mayorkas recalled that the government of Mexico agreed to receive up to 30,000 deportees each month. Unlike Title 42, which allows re-crossing with little consequence, deportation in Title 8 imposes harsher penalties such as five years without re-entry or criminal prosecution.

Title 42 facilitated the return of those who cross the border without authorization and are intercepted. Deportations will continue: “People who enter the country who do not establish a legal basis to stay will continue to be duly deported,” a senior government official said. “We don’t intend to arrest families, we will use alternatives to arrest,” Mayorkas clarified of a rumor that the Biden administration would use a tactic similar to that used by Trump. .

The Biden government has passed different agreements to facilitate legal migration and, at the same time, close the door to undocumented immigrants. An initial agreement to process requests from Venezuelans was extended and then extended to citizens of Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua thanks to an agreement with Mexico announced at the beginning of the year. Officials said these agreements have helped reduce the number of immigrants arriving at the border. “We have seen great interest in these processes and a dramatic drop in encounters of these nationalities at the border. In March 2023, they fell by 23% compared to the same period last year,” Mayorkas pointed out.

The model allows people residing in the United States to apply on behalf of a citizen entering the country if they demonstrate that they have the means of subsistence or local support necessary to survive, which facilitates, for example , family reunion. The request had to be processed before going through an application from the Bureau of Customs and Border Control (CBP, for its acronym in English).

Spain and Canada

This Thursday, Washington announced that the program would also apply to Colombian, Guatemalan, Salvadoran and Honduran citizens. Additionally, the measures are extended even if Title 42 expires to nationals of Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua. Biden government officials have recalled that the United States has also reached agreements for Canada and Spain to accept certain immigrant quotas and that the new measures will facilitate the continuation of this process.

“A border-only approach cannot work. We must work hand in hand with our regional partners and this is what we are doing within the framework of the declaration of Los Angeles”, signed at the Summit of the Americas last June, insisted a senior government official. “As we have said before, we will establish regional processing centers in key countries in the region to facilitate many more legal pathways than before. We work on anti-smuggling initiatives with countries like Panama and Colombia. This is a regional effort,” he added.

“Today we will establish regional processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala, but we are in talks with other countries in the region,” said a senior official. At the moment there will already be existing offices and the goal is that later there will be specific centers dedicated solely to this task.

They will consider whether people who wish to immigrate to the United States qualify for asylum, employment, family reunification or other types of programs and what alternatives are available to them. Information will also be provided on the possibilities of emigration to Canada or Spain, explained government officials, who assured that there would be more details on its operation in the coming weeks.

“We see this as a regional approach where we would make it easier for immigrants to want to come to the United States or go to other countries like Spain and Canada to stay where they are. Make an appointment and go to a center. This is a historic step that we are very happy to be able to announce,” the senior official said.

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