SAN DIEGO (AP) – The Biden administration on Friday announced plans to have tens of thousands of asylum seekers wait in Mexico for the next immigration court hearings in the United States to be allowed as their cases progress.
The first of about 25,000 asylum seekers in Mexico with active cases will be allowed in the United States on February 19, authorities reported. They plan to start slowly with two border crossings that each process up to 300 people a day and a third step that takes less. Administration officials declined to appoint them for fear that they might encourage the presence of people to these locations.
The move is a major step toward dismantling one of former President Donald Trump’s most consistent policies to deter asylum seekers from arriving in the United States. About 70,000 asylum seekers enrolled in “Remain in Mexico“, Officially called” Protocols for the Protection of Migrants “, since it was introduced in January 2019.
The first day of Biden in charge, the Department of Homeland Security suspended the policy for newcomers. Since then, some asylum seekers picked up at the border have been released in the U.S. with warnings to appear in court.
Biden quickly fulfills a campaign promise to end politics, which the Trump administration said was key to reversing the rise in asylum seekers that peaked in 2019. But the policy also exposed the people to violence in Mexican border cities and made it extremely difficult for them to find lawyers and communicate with the courts about their cases.
“As President Biden has made clear, the U.S. government is committed to rebuilding a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alexander Mayorkas. “This latest action is a further step in our commitment to reforming immigration policies that do not conform to the values of our nation.”
Homeland Security said the measure “should not be construed as an opening for people to migrate illegally to the United States.” Government officials have repeatedly said the vast majority of people crossing the border illegally are quickly evicted by a public health order in place since the pandemic occurred in March, but the freedoms of some families who asylum seekers in Texas and California have worked against this message. .
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that she was concerned that limited emissions in the U.S. could encourage other people to cross illegally because “we don’t want people to be put in danger at a time when we don’t it is the right time to come, because we have not had time to implement a system and a moral and human process ”.
Hearings for people enrolled in “Rest in Mexico” have been suspended since June due to the pandemic. Knowing when to report to the border to be released in the United States can be a daunting task.
Homeland Security said it would soon announce a “virtual registration process” available online and over the phone so people know where and when they should report. He urged asylum seekers not to show up at the border unless instructed to do so.
Asylum seekers will be tested for COVID-19 before entering the United States
The announcement does not provide any relief to people whose cases were dismissed or denied, although administration officials did not rule out additional measures. Advocates argue that communication problems, including a lack of directions to work in Mexico, caused some to lose hearings and lose cases.
There are more people who have stopped crossing the border illegally since Biden took office.
Raúl Ortiz, deputy director of the border patrol, said on Tuesday that more than 3,000 people had been stopped from crossing the border illegally in each of the previous 10 days, compared to a daily average of 2,426 in January.
About 50 to 80 adults and children arrive daily from Jan. 27 at Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, which temporarily hosts people released by the Border Patrol, said Sister Norma Pimentel, the group’s executive director. COVID-19 charity tests and send to any hotel that tests positive for insulation.
The San Diego Jewish Family Service welcomed 191 asylum seekers in the first ten days of February after U.S. authorities released them, from 144 in January and 54 in December, said Eitan Peled, an advocate for the United States. group border services. They are kept in quarantine in hotels for 10 days.