2023-05-16 01:05:27
Relative calm has reigned since Friday along the southern border of the United States, despite widespread fears that the immediate expulsion measures, in force during the pandemic, for most migrants, including asylum seekers, will end. , unleashed a stampede from Mexico. In fact, a surge of migrants occurred in the run-up to the expiration of the pandemic-era removal policy, known as Title 42.
Given the uncertainty about the impact of the new dissuasive measures, migrants braved turbulent rivers, cut barbed wire and scaled the steel border wall to reach the United States and surrender to US Border Patrol agents. On some days last week, arrests topped 11,000 and were among the highest on record.
The Secretary of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, declared on Sunday that the agents detained only 6,300 immigrants on Friday and 4,200 on Saturday. In television interviews, Mayorkas said that the new policy of the Joe Biden administrationwhich combines the carrot of new legal avenues with the stick of more punitive measures for illegal border crossings, was working.
Now most immigrants must prove that they were first denied asylum in a country they passed through on their way to the United States. And they could face criminal prosecution, prolonged detention and a ban from re-entry for five years.
But the truce could be the calm before another storm.
tensions
It is unlikely The economic, political, and environmental forces driving people to the United States will abate in the coming months, and not all new US policy measures may survive.
Minutes after the new policies went into effect, immigrant advocacy groups filed a lawsuit to block a provision meant to deter asylum seekers from reaching the border, comparing it to a transit ban repealed during the Trump administration. .
And hours before Title 42 was set to expire, a federal judge from the state of Florida issued an order prohibiting the release of migrants in custody American with no court date. (The US government is challenging the decision.)
Beyond US borders, political instability, criminal gang violence, and climate change continue to fuel migration.
Much of the developing world, from Africa and Asia to South America and the Caribbean, is still reeling from economic ruin caused by COVID-19 and aggravated by the war in Ukraine.
“Everyone looks at arrivals at the border, but the root of the problem lies in push factors that they are going to persist in the countries of origin,” says Justin Gest, a political scientist at George Mason University in the state of Virginia who studies immigration. “When crises arise, flows northward are generated,” he said.
In recent years there has been an increase in exodus from troubled countries in the Western Hemisphere, such as Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti. Unlike Europe, where numerous countries are potential destinations for migrants, in the Western Hemisphere almost all roads lead to only one country: the United States.
And apart from the factors that push migrants to leave their countries of origin, The magnet that draws people to the United States is the job market. Unemployment is at its lowest level in decades, but there are millions of unfilled jobs.
A good moment
“There has never been a better time for immigrants to look for work in the US,” says Wayne Cornelius, an immigration expert and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego.
“Even the majority of asylum seekers are powerfully motivated by the prospect of better-paying employment, and many have contacts who can quickly direct them to job offers,” Cornelius said.
The politics of the Biden administration aims to deter migrants to start the journey to the border.
So while Title 42 is no longer in effect, other new restrictions are. Migrants are prohibited from applying for asylum at the border unless they show that a country through which they transited denied them protection.
Exceptions are only made in extraordinary circumstances, such as medical problems, or in the case of asylum seekers who have used a mobile application to obtain an appointment at an official entry point. Until now, the number of citations has been extremely limited.
The Biden government has announced that it will open regional centers, starting in Colombia and Guatemala, where migrants can apply for refugee status and undergo an initial eligibility test to legally enter the United States. Canada and Spain have agreed to accept some of these asylum seekers.
Justin Gest, the political scientist, said the United States wants to spread the responsibility for absorbing so many migrants, “but it’s not clear that’s going to work.”
Since the beginning of this year, Washington has been encouraging Venezuelans, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians to apply for a “humanitarian parole” program which allows them to fly directly to the United States and stay for two years, if they have a financial guarantee.
But many migrants come from countries not included in the program, such as Colombia, Ecuador and Honduras. And even for the four countries mentioned, the number of people trying to enter exceeds 30,000 places per month, apart from the fact that many of them do not meet the requirements because they lack connections in the United States.
Shauyuri Mejías, a 48-year-old Venezuelan, studied the program but realized that she could not participate. So he crossed the treacherous Darien Gapa jungle halfway between Colombia and Panama, with his son, his daughter-in-law and his grandson.
“We are the first generation of our family to come to the United States. We don’t have anyone here to lean on,” explains Mejías, sitting on the bottom bunk of a shelter in El Paso, Texas.
The Mejías family managed to use the US government application to arrange an interview at a gate and crossed the border before Title 42 was lifted. But among the many frustrated migrants piling up in Mexico, patience is bound to run out.
Historically, there is no conclusive evidence that more aggressive enforcement and more punitive penalties deter mass immigration.
El Paso, one of the border cities hardest hit in recent months, recorded a sharp decline in immigration detentions, to just 639 on Saturday, according to internal data provided to The New York Times, up from 2,131 on May 10. But this masks possible complications in the making.
US intelligence services estimate that there were between 60,000 and 65,000 migrants on the Mexican side of the border at the time, according to Raúl Ortiz, the head of the Border Patrol. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated that smuggling rings were spreading misinformation that the border would open when Title 42 expired.
A new wave could exacerbate both the humanitarian crisis like the political headaches of President Joe Biden and his administration. In recent weeks, shelter operators and doctors in border cities have reported an increase in hospitalizations for injuries suffered by migrants who scaled the border wall.
As she made her way across the towering steel barrier under cover of darkness, Rosmarie Cepeda slipped and fell to the ground on the El Paso side of the border, breaking her left foot. She had surgery and she could take six months to recover. This 40-year-old Venezuelan cook said that had decided to risk after failing to get an appointment through the mobile app.
“I was determined to enter the United States. I have three children in Venezuela who depend on me,” said Cepeda, who is recovering in a church shelter and must use a wheelchair.
A new large influx of people would also put a strain on border processing centers. On some occasions, to relieve overcrowding immigrants have been released No date of appearance in immigration court.
This measure is being criticized by the political wing of the Republicans, who are preparing to make immigration a central issue of their electoral campaigns by 2024.
If legal complications leave facilities dangerously overcrowded, the prospect will hurt the administration, said Stuart Anderson, executive director of the think tank National Foundation for American Policy. “The American public will blame the president.”
The New York Times
Translation: Roman Garcia Azcarate
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