The Biden administration will begin expelling migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who cross into the US illegally between ports of entry as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration while opening a number of legal pathways for people to legally claim asylum, President Joe Biden said on Thursday.
Mr Biden announced the new policies in a speech at the White House at 11.15 am, just one day after he said he intends to make his first visit to the US-Mexico border next week when he visits Mexico for a trilateral summit with the Mexican and Canadian heads of government.
He said immigration remains a “complicated issue” and stressed that he did not “want to pretend there’s anything easy about it” because the people coming to the US are seeking new opportunities and fleeing oppression in their home countries.
“They chase their own American dream in the greatest nation in the world. And the story of America is the story of so many of your families,” he said.
But the president lamented how the current “patchwork” of US immigration laws “simply doesn’t work as it should,” and said the previous administration’s use of Title 42 to expel migrants on public health grounds has created more of a problem because people expelled under that authority simply keep coming back.
“We should all recognize that as long as America is the land of freedom and opportunity. people are going to try to come here. And that's what many of our ancestors did. And it's no surprise that it's happening again today. We can't stop people from making the journey. but we can require them to come here they that they come here in an orderly way under US law,” he said.
Mr Biden also stressed that Title 42 remains in place while the Supreme Court considers whether to allow the administration to rescind the use of that authority, and a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the plan said the Department of Homeland Security is implementing the new policies as part of a strategy to prepare for the end of the Trump-era public health order.
He said he would visit the border in El Paso, Texas on Sunday, “to assess border enforcement operations [and] meet with the local officials and community leaders and the folks at the border”.
“I know that migration is putting a real strain on the borders and border communities ... we're going to get these communities more support,” he said, adding that it was time for Congress to act to provide more support for such communities, and to overhaul the immigration system in a comprehensive way.
“If the most extreme Republicans continue to demagogue this issue, and reject solutions, I'm left with only one choice: Act on my own, do as much as I can on my own, to try to change the atmosphere,” he said. “Immigration reform used to be a bipartisan issue. We can make it that way again — it's not only the right thing to do, it's the economically smart thing to do”.
The official said the new program represents “significant steps” taken by the administration “to not only increase legal pathways to the United States, but also continue to deliver consequences for those who attempt to enter the United States unlawfully”.
“The legal pathways that we are announcing today are generous, but at the same time, there are serious consequences for circumventing them,” said the official, added that the new initiative expands a program that has been used for migrants seeking to come to the US from Venezuela to Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan migrants.
“Under the expanded program, DHS will admit up to 30,000 individuals per month from these four countries. At the same time we will return to Mexico 30,000 people each month from these countries who circumvent the process and attempt to cross our border unlawfully,” the official continued, adding that the US will immediately begin to “swiftly return” migrants from those countries who attempt to cross the US-Mexico border illegally and deem any such migrants ineligible for the new program.
Anyone who crosses from those countries illegally into Panama or Mexico will also be ineligible, the official said.
“The message is clear: Those who are interested in migrating to the United States should stay where they are and apply for this rapid new process,” the official said.
To be eligible for the new process, any potential asylum seeker will need a US sponsor and will have to pass a security vetting process. Anyone approved can travel to the US by plane and will have a two-year residence and work permit upon arrival.
“The process is easy. You can do the whole thing on an app on your phone. It costs nothing more than the price of a commercial airline ticket,” they said.
The administration’s latest push to stem the flow of asylum seekers across the US-Mexico border comes amid a record number of crossings and attempted crossings that has contributed to what critics describe as a crisis that has overwhelmed border communities and consumed significant amounts of resources on both sides of the border.
The official said the new programme is based off a similar arrangement launched for Venezuelan migrants last year, which the administration has considered successful because it resulted in a 90 per cent decrease in the number of Venezuelan nationals seeking asylum between ports of entry.
“Coupling consistent consequences for those who cross our border with a streamlined legal pathway is proven is proven to reduce irregular migration and facilitate safe, orderly migration,” the official said. “Fewer people are risking their lives and their entire life savings at the hands of human smugglers. This is what we are seeking to build upon today”.
