President Joe Biden on Thursday outlined a new policy that will allow 30,000 migrants per month from four countries but will also crack down on those who don't use the plan's legal channels in a rare White House address on the country's southern border problem.
The proposal, according to the president, will offer humanitarian "parole" to qualified migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, who were speaking in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. It will work as part of a border strategy that incorporates an expanded use of Title 42 expulsions.
Do not simply arrive at the border. In response to potential immigrants from certain countries, Biden advised them to "stay where you are and apply legitimately from there. "Starting today, you will not be eligible for this new parole programme if you don't apply through the legal process."
The news came as information about a proposal to implement a new rule—a variation of a Trump-era policy commonly referred to as the "transit ban"—was made public by the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice. The new regulation would prevent immigrants from requesting asylum in the United States unless they had already been denied safe haven by another nation. It would also consider those who enter the country illegally ineligible. Prior to the proposed regulation becoming law, DHS and DOJ will take public comments into consideration.
The additional information disclosed on Thursday, according to Biden, "won't cure our entire immigration system but they can help us a good deal in better managing what is a challenging situation." "My administration is going to work to make things at the border better with the tools that we have until Congress passes the funds, a comprehensive immigration plan to reform the system completely," he continued.
The president also announced that he will be making his first trip to the border since taking office. In order to "review border enforcement activities" and "meet with local leaders," Biden said he will travel to El Paso, Texas, on Sunday. Prior to his journey to Mexico City for the "Three Amigos" conference with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts, the visit took place.
The actions are a reflection of the Biden administration's most recent effort to address the overflowing immigration system in the United States. They also occur at a time when the president is under increasing criticism over border issues from both Republicans and Democrats.
The issue has become more pressing for the Biden administration recently as officials made preparations for a court-ordered end to Title 42 limits, only to have the policy's lifting be temporarily blocked by the Supreme Court. The southern border is currently seeing a record-breaking migratory flood, which is likely to be a critical policy concern throughout Biden's presidency regardless of the high court's decision on the Trump administration's policy, which is scheduled to be decided later this year.
In his speech, Biden brought up a proposal he made in the early months of his administration to fix the "broken immigration system," which included measures to stop illegal immigration and defend those who had been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and other protections, as well as other "Dreamers" who had been brought to the country illegally as children by their families. Republicans were criticised by the president for turning down both his funding demands and his proposal.
"Our border issues didn't develop over night, and they won't be resolved over night either. It's a challenging issue. Extreme Republicans will undoubtedly campaign on immigration because it is a political issue, he added. "However, they now have an option. They can continue to use immigration to try to win political points, or they can work together to solve the issue and fix the flawed system.
With immediate effect, the humanitarian parole programme expands on the one launched exclusively for Venezuelans this fall, which opened a small door for up to 24,000 migrants with prior ties to the United States and those who could offer financial and other help. The program's implementation, which deals with nations experiencing political and economic unrest, depends on the utilisation of the Title 42 authority to turn away non-recipients at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Border agents will turn away Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans in the same manner that they turned away large numbers of Venezuelans in the past few months using Title 42 authority. According to Biden, Mexico has committed to take in 30,000 migrants per month from the four nations.
To deter people from making the risky trip via the Darien Gap, migrants who illegally enter Panama or Mexico will also be disqualified from the programme.
The policy for Venezuelans, which was unveiled in October 2022, expels anyone who attempted to enter the United States illegally through Mexico while requiring migrants to request asylum from their home nation. Humanitarian parole recipients from Venezuela were permitted to fly into the United States. The number of those migrants crossing illegally has dropped 70 percent, falling from about 21,000 in October to 6,200 in November, according to latest U.S. Customs and Border protection data.
The administration is continuing to make plans for the termination of Title 42 limitations, according to Biden, along with new legal avenues and deterrence. In addition to increasing resources including manpower, vehicles, medical assistance, and buildings to support border officials, the government is working to combat cartels and human smuggling networks. According to Biden, greater funds and assistance would also be given to border cities and other areas that get a lot of migrants. DHS intends to increase its engagement with state and local leaders.
These actions come as Democratic-led municipalities hosting migrants bused in from the southern border begged the White House this week to assist them in managing a surge that has already taxed local infrastructure. Republicans have also urged the administration to take additional action, with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) highlighting the high concentration of Cuban and Haitian migrants in South Florida.
Biden has been listening to requests from Democratic mayors of Chicago and Washington, D.C., including Eric Adams of New York, and "he knows that there are things we must do," said Adams.
And I just don't think this completes the thought. Comma is used here. We need to add a period at the end of the statement to indicate that the border issue, which had lasted ten years, is now over.
Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, however, referred to Biden's proposal as a "band-aid for a historic flood."
The president's speech was swiftly condemned by immigration reform advocates and attorneys who oppose any expansion of Title 42, which has allowed border agents to immediately expel millions of migrants on public health grounds without considering their claims for asylum. While Thursday's announcements may help the administration temporarily deal with the record number of people fleeing to the U.S., they are only a temporary solution. Officials from the administration have been debating the political ramifications of strengthening public health policy for days.
On Thursday, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) denounced the actions. He stated that although he agreed with the administration's choice to give some immigrants with fewer resources easier access to parole, "this benefit will not be extended to immigrants who are fleeing violence and persecution and do not have the ability or financial means to qualify for the new parole process."
Menendez said in a statement that "restoring rule of law at the border" was affronted by the Biden Administration's decision to expand Title 42, a destructive and inhumane holdover of the Trump Administration's racist immigration strategy. "I am profoundly troubled that the Administration is skirting immigration law, which will heighten confusion and turmoil at the Southern border, rather than working with Congress to find a solution to the several humanitarian situations driving mass migration in our hemisphere."
Combining this action with the revival of a rule resembling the transit ban from the Trump administration forced the administration to defend itself in order to avoid criticism from Democrats and immigration activists. The decision to implement a "illegal" transit ban, according to Menendez, "erases the words and principles carved on the Statue of Liberty."
At a press conference that immediately followed Biden's, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas emphasised numerous times that the new regulation bears "no resemblance" to the transit ban enacted by the previous administration because DHS has already established legal alternatives.
In preparation for the lifting of Title 42 limits, he provided more specifics on his plans to increase Title 8 border processing. In accordance with Title 8, the government would be entitled to swiftly deport anyone who is unable to provide a legal justification, such as a granted asylum application. An immigration prohibition on these immigrants would last for five years.
When asked about possible fallout from the announcements, one administration official responded, "I think rather than seeing this as restricting individuals' abilities to seek asylum, you should see this as managing the border in an orderly and humane way, while also expanding these pathways with the parole programme."
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