The White House is preparing drastic measures at the border between the United States and Mexico which would limit asylum applications and automatically deny entry to immigrants once the number of people detained by U.S. border agents exceeds a new daily threshold.
Joe Biden could sign the executive order this Tuesday, according to four sources familiar with the matter, as reported by The Associated Press (AP) dispatch published this Thursday.
Since the failure of a bipartisan border bill earlier this year, the president has considered taking additional executive actions.
Moreover, the number of illegal crossings at the border between both countries has decreased in recent months, but the reason is largely due to the intensification of efforts by Mexico.
However, immigration is one of the main concerns leading up to the November presidential elections, and Republicans are eager to attack Biden on this issue, stated AP.
The anonymous sources reported that with the new measures, the Democrats aim to prevent any possible increase in crossings, which could occur as the fall elections approach and the weather is less hot.
The new plan would allow Biden to say that he has done everything he could to control the numbers at the border without the help of Congress, although his administration has taken minor measures in recent weeks with the aim of discouraging migration and speeding up asylum processing, according to AP.
In addition, the new restrictions are considered "an aggressive attempt to alleviate the overwhelmed asylum system of the country, along with a new effort to expedite the cases of immigrants who are already in the United States," according to the quoted dispatch.
The sources also pointed out that some of the policies directly from a stalled bipartisan border agreement in the Senate are being considered.
Regarding this, they pointed out that they are considering limiting the number of meetings to an average of 4,000 per day for a week.
They would also analyze whether that limit would include asylum seekers who arrive at the border with appointments through the CBP One application of United States Customs and Border Protection.
Of the four people who informed AP, two said that one option is that "migrants arriving after the border reaches a certain threshold could be automatically expelled in a process similar to deportation and would not be able to return easily."
Regarding this issue, they explained that "migrants could more easily return to the border if they were deported under the pandemic-era policy known as Title 42."
Under that agreement, Mexico agreed to readmit some non-Mexican nationalities, including migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, as reported by AP.
In the United States, migrants, especially families, who apply for asylum at the southern border are usually released to await the resolution of their cases.
However, there are currently "more than 2 million pending cases in immigration courts, and some people wait years to be assigned a court date while living in limbo in the United States," according to the office.
Although anyone who arrives at the border illegally can apply for asylum, U.S. authorities are pushing for immigrants to schedule appointments and use a legal route, avoiding the costly and dangerous exposure.
"Or they can stay where they are and request it through advanced locations in Colombia, Guatemala, and Costa Rica," he pointed out.
The criticisms from Republicans and the large number of migrants crossing into the U.S. have caused Biden to become more conservative on border issues.
The new measures that the Biden administration intends to implement are outlined in Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
"This section grants the president a broad margin of discretion to block the entry of certain immigrants into the United States if it were 'detrimental' to the country's national interests," the agency cited said.
Recently, in the Senate, Republicans once again blocked a bill that would have enshrined some of these measures.
This happened even as Republicans have called for more restrictions and argued that Biden has not done enough to curb the flow of immigrants entering the United States.
The bipartisan bill project, which seemed to be on track for approval, had the support of the National Border Patrol Council and its president, Brandon Judd, a declared supporter of Donald Trump, the presumed Republican presidential candidate.
"But Trump, concerned about giving the Democrats an electoral victory, asked the Republicans to overturn it, and they did so," according to AP.
Angelo Fernández Hernández, White House spokesperson, stated that the Biden administration continues to seek political options to address the issues in the immigration system.
"While the Republican members of Congress chose to stand in the way of implementing the additional border measures, President Biden will not stop fighting to deliver the resources that border and immigration personnel need to secure our border," he said.
According to AP, in 2024 Congress approved the funding for a total of 41,500 detention beds and increased by 1.2 billion dollars the funds allocated to law enforcement and immigrant expulsion operations compared to what was initially requested by the White House.
An additional $106 million is included to finance programs that monitor immigrants in the asylum system through phone applications and ankle bracelets, instead of through detention.
The administration of President Joe Biden recently announced new changes to the political asylum policy, which would allow the United States to expedite the expulsion of immigrants considered "unfit" at the border.
Four people familiar with the matter confirmed to the publication Politico that changes would be introduced in the credible fear interview, where "immigrants may be deemed ineligible to apply for and receive asylum."
In addition, the United States government proposed changes to the political asylum policy at the borders, affecting immigrants with criminal records, who could be rejected without waiting for a judge's decision.
Similarly, significant changes have recently been announced in the political asylum policy that could affect the enforcers of authoritarian regimes in countries like Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
According to experts consulted by Martí Noticias, these new measures will restrict the entry to the U.S. of individuals with criminal records or who have been involved in repressive activities.
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