President Biden
Joe BidenBiden will sign executive order to increase access to voting Myanmar army conducts violent night raids Confidence in coronavirus vaccines has grown and most now say they want MORE it faces a growing dilemma on the southern border that shows few signs of decline: the number of unaccompanied minors crossing into the United States has been steadily rising in recent weeks.
Thousands of migrants have crossed the border during the first six weeks of Biden’s tenure, many of them unaccompanied minors. The influx has tested the administration’s resources and ability to quickly implement its own strategy as Republicans sound alarms about what they have considered a Biden crisis.
The Biden administration is rapidly adapting its approach to meet the need for space and staff, reflecting the gravity of the situation.
“President Biden has asked members of his team to travel to the border region to provide him with comprehensive information on the government’s response to the influx of unaccompanied minors and an assessment of additional measures that can be taken to ensure safety and security caring for these children, “White House spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement.
According to reports, officials are working to implicate the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Washington Post reported that the administration wants to turn family detention centers into processing centers to more quickly examine migrant children and their parents. .
These moves come weeks after the administration reopened a facility for migrant children in Texas, despite Biden’s fervent criticism of the use of similar facilities during the Trump administration.
Experts said the influx of immigrants seen during Biden’s first weeks in office is not significantly higher compared to past rises, but warned that the Trump administration’s efforts to hinder entry into the country could complicate efforts to meet the challenge.
“There are many cases where there have been more people, but the past administration did its best to dismantle the institutions that run an immigration system,” said Eric Hershberg, director of the Center for Latin American Studies and Latinos at the American University.
“So what this administration needs to do is quickly increase the ability to prosecute people who arrive at the border, find out how to accommodate them while their immigration aid applications are awarded … and figuring out how to get them, “Once epidemiologically authorized, to family members who can care for them while working through the immigration system,” he added.
Biden administration officials have discouraged migrants from the North Triangle region in Central America from crossing to the U.S. border, warning that the trip is dangerous, that the United States does not have the capacity to process large number of people and that most migrants are being converted at the border.
Still, border agents capture thousands of immigrants a day, and some Democrats have even warned that the situation could turn into a full-blown crisis in the coming weeks.
Texas Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, a Democrat living in the border town of McAllen, told The Hill that the influx of migrants is rapidly becoming a crisis and that officials from there they do not have the resources to prosecute migrants or to test them all to detect COVID-19.
He said the Biden administration’s move to allow people to stay in the country while awaiting their immigration proceedings (a practice called “capture and release” banned under Trump) is encouraging migrants to make the dangerous journey. , despite White House requests that people stay home.
“It’s gotten worse,” Hinojosa said. “I think, frankly, the Biden administration was aware of what’s going on here on the ground, which you can understand because they’re just coming in and trying to keep people up to date with what’s going on, but I don’t.” I don’t think they were aware that there were many that were. The border patrol is overwhelmed, they raise their hands because they don’t know what to do ”.
The border patrol reported an average of about 3,000 daily arrests in January. Officials have not disclosed the total number of arrests in recent weeks, but Reuters reported that border patrol officers arrested about 4,500 migrants on Wednesday alone, a number that rivals the highest number of arrests in 2019 when they were old. President Trump
Donald TrumpBiden to sign executive order to increase access to voting Albany Times Union editorial board calls for Cuomo’s resignation Proponents warn restrictive voting laws could end Georgia’s record turnout threatened to close the border.
Biden made unraveling Trump’s immigration policies a priority when he took office. The new administration stopped the construction of the border wall and stopped the protocols for the protection of migrants that forced migrants to remain in Mexico while awaiting processing while promising to reunite separated families for the past four years.
“We certainly have a different approach,” the White House press secretary said Jen Psaki
Jen Psaki Cruz is testing the U.S. CIA-nominated Biden refugee agency, which records a record number of migrants in February. Democrats prepare for public relations battle over COVID-19 relief MORE he said Friday when asked if Biden’s change of approach was encouraging migrants to head to the U.S. border. “We understand the outcome and the impact of this, but we are using every tool at our disposal and we will use every official we can to convey clearly that this is not the time to come.”
Republicans are looking to increase pressure on Biden to move with authority to address the issue.
Leader of the Republican House Party Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy McCarthy is reading “Green Eggs and Ham”: “I Still Like It” that Dr. Chamber of Commerce Seuss clarifies the position of lawmakers who voted against election certification. (California) on Friday requested a meeting with Biden, saying it feels “compelled to express great concern about the way your administration is coping with this crisis.”
House Republicans have asked the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on the border hike.
In a statement released Friday, Trump fired Biden, accusing him of creating the crisis.
“Our border is now completely out of control thanks to the disastrous leadership of Joe Biden. Our great Border Patrol and ICE agents have been despised, denied and mocked by the Biden Administration. A massive incursion into the country by people who shouldn’t be here is happening every hour, which is getting worse every minute, ”Trump said.
At the same time, liberals have expressed anger at the reopening of homes for unaccompanied minors that were used under Trump.
The Pentagon confirmed Friday that the Biden administration could use a military base in Virginia to house unaccompanied minors as border facilities reach full capacity.
John Amaya, the former deputy director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cabinet of former President Obama, told The Hill that Biden has done an admirable job so far in developing Trump’s policies.
But he said that before any comprehensive immigration bill is passed, Biden must have convinced lawmakers and citizens that the border is safe, that immigrants are being controlled, and that the entry process is considered fair by Americans and immigrants.
He said heads of agencies and field leaders will need to confirm to the Senate that the Biden White House has taken a long time to establish itself in the ICE, customs and border protection and human and health services.
“They are doing a great job reviewing everything the last team has done and trying to put an end to the Frankenstein monster created by Trump and try to establish a fair and just system that adheres to international law and our own laws: this it’s huge and wonderful step, ”Amaya said.
“When they need a little more assistance and it’s an internal decision, they have to put the heads of agencies confirmed by the Senate,” he said. “The workforce, the officers, the agents need the Senate to confirm the leadership and much is missing. It makes a big difference when you have these leaders in place. ”