Mexican immigration officials on Sunday closed a border camp for Central American migrants, who sent most of the 800 residents to the United States regardless of COVID-19 infection status, as a result of President Biden ending the policy. of former President Donald Trump “Stay in Mexico.”
Many of the asylum seekers arrived near Brownsville, Texas, where local officials said Monday there is a growing number of infected migrants and that nothing is being done to enforce quarantine.
Newly released migrants were not counted among the latest positive results of COVID-19, but may add to the growing figure.
As of Saturday, 185 of 1,553 migrants tested at Brownsville Central Bus Station since Jan. 26 had tested positive for the virus, city spokesman Felipe Romero told Fox News.
The camp in Matamoros, Mexico, closed after the end of Trump’s “Stay in Mexico” policy for Central Americans, according to which some 71,000 Central American asylum seekers were awaiting sentences in northern Mexico.
Republicans say Biden has provoked a crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border by sending a message that new immigrants will be welcomed into the country, although the White House said migrants should wait to come later because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday it is not the federal government’s job to test migrants’ COVID-19s before they are released. He said this is the responsibility of state and local governments and that in some cases non-profit organizations have “booked hotel blocks” to help house positive people in COVID-19.
“When immigrants are placed in alternatives to detention, COVID-19 testing: our policy is for COVID-19 testing to be done at the state and local level and with the help of NGOs and local governments said Psaki.
“And this is true that our policy must be done, concluded even before they move to go and stay with family members or other people who may know that their cases are being resolved.” .
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week accused Biden of allowing the “importation” of COVID-19 through the release of migrants. The governor he tweeted: “The Biden Administration Recklessly Releases Hundreds of Illegal Immigrants Who Have COVID in Texas Communities. The Biden Administrator. MUST IMMEDIATELY End This Curious Act Exposing Texans and Americans to COVID.” .
Proponents of the “Stay in Mexico” policy say it deters asylum seekers from entering the United States despite knowing that their persecution claim is likely to be denied.
Opponents of the policy say northern Mexico can be as dangerous as Central American countries killed by fleeing crimes by applicants.
Migrants who were detained in border camps in Mexico while being prosecuted in U.S. courts for entry are no longer detained as part of the Biden administration that revokes the policy.
“U.S. President Biden is helping people because it’s necessary, you know,” Mario, a Honduran immigrant who spent eight months in a camp with his family and is still awaiting entry, told Fox News to the United States.
The White House admitted Monday that it is not enough to deter people from seeking illegal entry into the United States.
Psaki acknowledged the failures after being pressured by the management of the situation by the administration.
“I would say it’s clear that we need to work harder to get the message across and be very clear, now is not the time to get there,” he said, before reiterating the Biden administration’s assertion that “most people arriving at the border are separated. “
“Yes, we have changed the policies of the last administration regarding unaccompanied children, but most families, adults, the vast majority, are separated at the border. And this is a message that we clearly must continue to look for ways and means to get out, you know, more and more in the region “, he continued.
His comments followed the revelation that under Biden, the Department of Homeland Security will turn two immigrant family detention centers in South Texas into Ellis Ellis-style fast processing facilities and has already emptied a installation in Pennsylvania.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote in a court case last Friday that while families remain detained at their Karnes City and Dilley locations, all adults and children are released within 72 hours.