DALLAS — The U.S. government will expand humanitarian passage monthly for as many as 30,000 people from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela under a broad measure designed to grapple with historic migration from the Western Hemisphere, senior White House officials announced Thursday.
Under the program, the immigrants must have an eligible sponsor and pass a vetting process to come to the U.S. for up to two years and receive work authorization, officials of President Joe Biden’s administration said in a briefing Thursday morning.
The measure is similar to an earlier smaller initiative announced in mid-October for Venezuelans. Administration officials emphasized the result was a decrease in migration from that country.
The measures come as unlawful migration continues to swell at record levels at the southwest border.
“Economic and political instability is fueling some of the highest levels of migration we’ve seen since World War II, and that includes within the Western Hemisphere,” said a senior administration official, who spoke to reporters under the condition he not be named.
Biden is expected to make further announcement on border security later Thursday.
“Encounters at our southwest border have reached levels that we’ve not seen in decades, driven in large part by an unprecedented exodus of migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela,” the administration official said.
In fiscal year 2022, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 2.2 million arrests, a record number. In December, immigration authorities encountered about 7,000 to 9,000 individuals daily.
That indicates that migration didn’t slow down from monthly levels that have recently hovered around 205,000 monthly for the Border Patrol at the southwest border.
The El Paso area is now the busiest region for immigration authorities. Administration officials said they would expand resources to border cities and counties but they gave no funding specifics.
The measures also include tougher enforcement of expedited removal at the border for those who “do not have a legal basis to remain” and can’t be expelled quickly under the controversial pandemic-era measure known as Title 42. The lifting of Title 42 is under litigation and now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Expedited removal comes with stiff legal consequences for repeat tries, including five-year bans to entry. It can lead to eventual criminal prosecution, as well. Title 42 has none of those harsh penalties.
The latest measures come as immigrant advocates call for the return of asylum processing at the border, under U.S. and international law for those who face certain types of persecution.
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