Ahead of his first visit to the border with Mexico, US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced measures to stem the mass influx of migrants. “Don’t come to the border. Stay where you are and make a legal application,” was his motto.
The US government wants to legally bring 30,000 migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua to the United States every month. They must pass a security check and have a financial sponsor on US soil. If their online application is accepted, they can travel by plane to the US, where they can legally live and work for two years.
At the same time, the government wants to speed up the deportation of migrants from these four countries who illegally cross the border between Mexico and the US through the so-called Title 42 program. That policy, introduced in the era of President Donald Trump, allows authorities to automatically deport undocumented migrants. The curtain would normally have fallen on the program in December, but the Supreme Court has upheld it.
With these measures, according to government officials, Washington wants to build on the success of a program for Venezuelans. In October, the US decided to admit 24,000 Venezuelans. In return, Mexico accepted for the first time to take back Venezuelans under Title 42 as well. This has since led to a large drop in the number of Venezuelans arriving in the border region. Mexico is willing to extend that deal to migrants from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua and would like to take back up to 30,000 people a month.
Biden vows to reform the “broken” immigration system in a “safe” and “humane” way. However, this also requires parliament to make new laws. The president himself realizes that his new measures “are not going to fix the entire immigration system”. But “they can help us better tackle this difficult challenge,” Biden said.
Biden will visit the Texas border town of El Paso on Sunday. It is the first time since he took office that he has visited the border region. His administration is under intense political pressure to address the high numbers of migrants trying to enter the US illegally through the border with Mexico. In December, an average of 8,000 people arrived daily at the southern border of the US.
Afterwards, Biden will travel to Mexico, where he will meet with President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador early next week. According to the US president, the “strengthening of the border” between the two countries will be one of the most important themes.
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