SAN DIEGO (AP) – The Biden administration on Friday announced plans for tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have been forced to wait in Mexico under a Trump-era policy to allow United States while its cases go through immigration courts.
The first wave of 25,000 asylum seekers with active cases in the “Rest in Mexico” program is estimated will be allowed to enter the United States on February 19, authorities reported. They plan to start slowly, with two border crossings each processing up to 300 people a day and a third step with fewer numbers.
The administration of President Joe Biden refused to publicly identify the three intersections for fear it could favor the presence of people, but U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Texas, said officials told him they were Brownsville and El Paso in Texas and San Diego. Crossing of San Ysidro.
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 have enrolled in the program officially called Migrant Protection Protocols 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.”
Asylum seekers will be released with notifications to appear in the courts of nearby cities or at their final destinations, usually with the family, administration officials said.
Homeland Security said the measure “should not be construed as an opening for people to migrate illegally to the United States.” Administration officials say the vast majority of people who cross the border illegally are expelled quickly under a public health order that Trump established in March amid the coronavirus pandemic. But some asylum-seeking families have been released in Texas and California, working against that 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.
“We don’t want people to be put in danger at a time when it’s not the right time to come, because we haven’t had time to put in place a moral and human system and process,” he said.
Judicial hearings for people enrolled in “Rest in Mexico” have been suspended since June due to the pandemic. Letting them know when they have to show up at 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” 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.
The International Organization for Migration will help with logistics and test COVID-19 asylum seekers before they enter the U.S., spokeswoman Liz Lizama said. The director of the UN migration agency in Mexico, Dana Graber Ladek, said she will try to inform asylum seekers across the country about eligibility.
The announcement does not provide any relief to people whose cases were dismissed or denied, although administration officials did not rule out additional measures. Proponents argue that communication problems, including a lack of directions to work in Mexico, caused some people to lose their hearings and lose their cases.
Mexico agreed to recover more asylum seekers in June 2019 to disable Trump’s threats of tariff increases. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador welcomed Biden’s changes and said Friday at a news conference that it would be “good” for the United States to welcome them as their cases go through the system.
Remain’s releases in Mexico will come as more people who cross the border illegally are arrested since Biden took office, challenging the administration in its early days.
Raúl Ortiz, deputy director of the Border Patrol, said on Tuesday that more than 3,000 people had been stopped in each of the previous ten 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 their release, from 144 in January and 54 in December, said Eitan Peled, an advocate for the group’s border services. They are kept in quarantine in hotels for 10 days.
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Associated Press writer Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed.