Joe Biden has certainly had immediate and visible results both in the fight against the Coronavirus and in the revival of the American economy. Its true Achilles heel is still the border with Mexico.
1.2 million arrests of illegal immigrants have in fact been confirmed since last October, a figure never exceeded for over 15 years.
The last month of June remained growing with more than 188,000. An increase of 4.5% compared to May.
And on these numbers the political battle has erupted with on the one hand the Republicans talking about invasion and asking for a heavy hand at the border and on the other the Democrats who want time and patience to repair the damage caused by the Trump administration.
Of the total number of arrests on the South American border, 76,751 are people from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Most are migrants fleeing poverty, violence and climate disasters.
The number of migrants from this region increased by 11% compared to May, but decreased compared to April (79,200) and March (85,600).
If the trend does not stop, 2021 could become the year with the most arrests since 2000, when 1.7 million people were arrested.
Mexicans continue to be the group of migrants arriving the most in the United States. After the meeting that the American Vice President Kamala Harris had with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the illegal crossing seems to have decreased compared to May (64,854 compared to 71,000). Mexican authorities, at Washington’s request, tightened immigration operations to stop the flow of people reaching the Rio Grande.
The pandemic, however, forced Donald Trump’s government to adopt an emergency directive, known as Title 42, which allows for the immediate expulsion of incoming people.
Mexico has become not only a transit country but a destination as well.
The Mexican government confirmed that asylum applications in the first half of 2021 were the highest ever. In June alone, they surpassed 10,400, to add more than 51,000 this year so far, 20,000 more than in the same period in 2019.
Donald Trump was recently on the border in Texas where he started building the wall. The visit was perfect to throw water on the fire on an objectively critical situation.
The former president met with some local authorities of the republican state, who showed him all their disappointment at the chaos.
Sheriffs and former Republican administration officials have criticized Biden’s immigration policy, holding the president responsible for the rise in crime and the spate of violence recorded in some cities.
“All Biden had to do was go to the beach. If he had done nothing, we would have the safest border ever seen, he was getting better, “joked Trump, convinced that the issue of immigration can help him in his battle to remain visible and reappear in the next presidential elections. A battle that has just begun.