US sends 24,000 agents to Mexico border to stop migrants | Abroad

Biden admitted on Tuesday evening that the situation in the border region would be temporarily very chaotic if the covid measures were stopped, which had completely blocked the influx of migrants. Those who entered the country illegally during the past three years were mercilessly sent back and could not claim any asylum application.

Now that those measures are about to be lifted, several migrants have gathered at the border in hopes of quickly entering the United States and seeking asylum there. These are people from Latin America, but also Chinese, Turks or Russians.

In El Paso, many people have long been sleeping on the street, under a sheet that protects them from the sun and on a piece of cardboard. According to the mayor, 12,000 to 15,000 people are expected by the end of the weekend.

To assist local authorities, the government has announced that it will send 24,000 agents and 1,100 asylum coordinators to the region. There are also 2,500 US military personnel already active, another 1,500 will join their colleagues in the coming weeks.

At the same time, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have finalized new restrictions on the right to asylum. They were announced in February, have been the subject of a mandatory consultation process and will come into force on Thursday evening. Before asylum seekers – with the exception of unaccompanied minors – can report to the border, they must make an appointment with the border guards, or already have a denial of asylum from a country through which they traveled before reaching the United States. If they don’t have this, their request is illegal and they could be subject to an expedited deportation procedure, barring them from entering US territory for five years.

The changes cause a lot of confusion for those who dream of the ‘American Dream’. “We don’t know what is happening,” says Venezuelan Michel, who is waiting 300 meters from the border in Mexico. “They fail to provide us with an option that gives us a great chance to enter the country.”

The new migration rules are also viewed with suspicion by human rights organizations. President Biden has been accused of continuing the hard line taken by his predecessor Donald Trump.