Theadministration ofJoe Biden announced this Thursday that it will beginimmediately reject Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans who illegally cross the border southern United States, in a strategy to control the immigration crisis and regulate entry to the country through a humanitarian visa plan for asylum seekers.
The announcement was made by the presidentJoe Biden from the White House, who explained that the United States has established an agreement with the government of Mexico to send back immigrants who enter illegally through border points.
"Don't just show up at the border... Stay where you are and legally apply for [refugee] from there," Biden warned during a news conference, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris.
The program launched by Biden will grant30,000 monthly visas (parole) to applicants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti,expanding an initiative implemented since last October to stop the entry of Venezuelans through border points with Mexico. The estimate will be at a rate of 7,500 visas per month for each country selected to benefit from the program.
Under the plan, which will take effect immediately, the United States will offer the possibility of obtaining a work permit to immigrants of these nationalities, as long as they meet the requirements for legal entry into the country, have the eligibility of a sponsor and pass the verification of background in the national security check.
Biden advanced the measure on the eve of his first visit as president to the border, in the area of El Paso, Texas, next Sunday, to talk with community leaders and local officials. Then the trip will continue to Mexico City to meet with government representatives andaddress issues of border security and regional collaborationin the10th North American Leaders Summit.
Biden, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will meet from January 9 to 11 at the National Palace of Mexico, and among the agency's priority issues are migration and security as an axis of the links between the three countries.
"This will be an orderly, safe and humanitarian process," said Biden, who specified that the plan will remain in force regardless of whether the United States Supreme Court eliminates the public health regulation known as Title 42, which allows authorities border authorities reject asylum requests and proceed with immediate expulsions.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials will begin denying asylum applications to immigrants who try to bypass legal channels from now on, ignoring the procedure for making the request through an online application from outside the territory. US.
Biden reported that Mexico will accept up to 30,000 immigrants per month with nationalities from countries who try to cross the border by land or by swimming and are captured by US authorities. The strategy also involves other governments in the Central American region to prevent the granting of safe passage to immigrants passing through their territories on their way to the United States.
The president also announced an offensive against smugglers in coordination with the Mexican authorities, which has already seen the arrest of more than 700 people involved in human trafficking on the so-called "Central American route" to the border from the dangerous Darién Pass. at a cost of thousands of dollars.
People who enter the United States, Mexico or Panama without authorization after this Thursday's announcement will not be able to benefit from the immigration benefits of the program and will be expelled from the country.
Starting Friday, DHS will open online applications for eligible individuals who wish to apply for legal entry into the United States.
The expectations of the US authorities are to be able to stop the uncontrolled flow from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti, which have shown exorbitant numbers of immigrants across the southern border since last year.
Biden mentioned in his speech that since the establishment of the visa program (parole) for Venezuelans in October, the entry of immigrants of that nationality experienced a drastic decrease of almost 90 percent, so a similar behavior is expected. in the case of Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians.
In the case of Cubans,A total of 220,908 immigrants arrived at the southern border during fiscal year 2022, which concluded on October 1, Since then, the figure has climbed to more than 100,000 in the first three months of fiscal period 2023 (FY2023).
If the entries of nationals from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti are added in the current fiscal year, the registration ofofficial arrivals (October-November 2022) amounts to 160,815 irregular immigrants.
But the alarm about the Cuban exodus does not only come from the Mexican border. In the last five days, an avalanche of more than 500 Cubans by sea flooded areas of the Florida Keys, forcing even theclosure of Dry Tortugas National Park. So far in FY2023,A total of 4,153 Cuban rafters have been intercepted by the United States Coast Guard and placed in the repatriation process.
Biden recognized that this is not a permanent solution, since it is necessary to transform the United States immigration system through laws approved by Congress.
"The actions we are announcing today will make things better, but they will not solve the border problem entirely," said Biden, urging lawmakers from both parties to act accordingly.
The president lamented that a last-ditch bipartisan effort in Congress to establish new immigration laws failed shortly before Republicans took the majority in the House of Representatives this January.
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