Thursday, January 05, 2023

U.S. would accept up to 30,000 migrants a month in expanded program -sources

Reuters
January 05, 2023


By Steve Holland, Ted Hesson and Dave Graham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States plans to accept up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela under a program paired with expulsions of people from those countries caught at the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. and Mexican officials said.

The expanded humanitarian program would build on a policy launched in October that allowed thousands of Venezuelans to enter by air if they applied from abroad and could demonstrate they had a U.S. sponsor, two U.S. and one Mexican official said on Wednesday.

The details on the planned program come as U.S. President Joe Biden plans to give a border security-themed speech on Thursday and intends to visit the U.S.-Mexico border next week, addressing an issue that has challenged the Democratic president during his first two years in office.

The two U.S. officials expected the new policies to be rolled out on Thursday but the White House did not respond to a request for comment seeking official confirmation.

Biden told reporters at the White House on Wednesday after a visit to Kentucky that he wants to see "peace and security" at the border. He said earlier in the day that he intended to visit the southwest border but that details were still being finalized.

"I'm going to see what's going on," Biden said of the border trip. "I'm going to be making a speech tomorrow on border security, and you'll hear more about it tomorrow."

Biden did not reply when asked which city he planned to visit although the news website Axios later reported he would visit El Paso, Texas, a border city that declared a state of emergency in December amid high levels of migrant arrivals.

Biden is scheduled to travel to Mexico City on Jan. 9 and 10 for the North American Leaders' Summit, where he will meet with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Biden, who took office in January 2021, has struggled operationally and politically with record numbers of migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, and migration is expected to be on the agenda at the meeting.

Republicans have criticized what they say are lenient border security policies, while Biden officials say they are trying to create a more orderly and humane system.

Reuters reported last week that the Biden administration is planning to use pandemic-era restrictions to expel many Cuban, Nicaraguan and Haitian migrants caught at the southwest border back to Mexico, while simultaneously allowing some to enter the United States by air on humanitarian grounds.

Migrant advocates and some Democrats have pushed back on expanding the expulsions, saying the restrictions block migrants from exercising their right to apply for asylum and expose them to risky situations in Mexico.

(Reporting by Steve Holland in Hebron, Kentucky, Trevor Hunnicutt, Andrea Shalal and Ted Hesson in Washington, and Dave Graham in Mexico City; Editing by Mary Milliken, Josie Kao, Aurora Ellis and Christian Schmollinger)

US unveils new border curbs for Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans

Joe Biden says new rules allowing asylum seekers to be returned to Mexico aim to reduce arrivals at US southern border.


Published On 5 Jan 2023

The United States will begin turning back migrants and refugees from Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba who try to enter the country without permits at the border with Mexico, the White House has announced, as part of continued efforts to stem arrivals.

The White House said on Thursday that it would accept as many as 30,000 people per month from the three countries – along with Venezuela – and give them two-year work authorisation, provided they have sponsors in the US and pass background checks.

However, anyone who seeks to irregularly cross the border will be ineligible for the programme and will be sent back to Mexico, which the US said had agreed to take back 30,000 people monthly from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti.



“These four countries account for most of the people now travelling into Mexico to try to start a new life by crossing the border into the United States of America,” US President Joe Biden said during a news conference on Thursday that announced the new restrictions.

“We anticipate this action is going to substantially reduce the number of people attempting to cross our southwest border without going through a legal process,” Biden told reporters.

“My message is this: If you’re trying to leave Cuba, Nicaragua or Haiti … do not, do not just show up at the border. Stay where you are and apply legally from there.”
Migrants and refugees from Venezuela huddle around a fire near the US-Mexico border [File: John Moore/Getty Images/AFP]

The move marks a massive change in US immigration rules, and it will stand even as the US Supreme Court considers ending a border expulsion policy known as Title 42 that has allowed authorities to rapidly expel asylum seekers without offering them a chance to seek protection.

Heidi Altman, policy director at the National Immigrant Justice Center, on Thursday accused the Biden administration of “openly rejecting” US law, which “clearly says it is legal to arrive at the border & seek asylum”.

“For many people that is the *only* option because they are fleeing for their lives & there’s no other safe haven,” Altman wrote on Twitter.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, also said Thursday’s announcement “had a lot of bad things in it”, but one major positive: the new programme that could allow 360,000 nationals from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti into the US annually.

That, Reichlin-Melnick tweeted, offers “a real ‘alternate pathway’ like we’ve asked for”.
Increased arrivals

The US has seen a surge in asylum seeker arrivals at its southern border with Mexico, fuelling a pressure campaign by Republican politicians who argue that the Biden administration is not doing enough to secure the frontier.

Biden had campaigned for the presidency on a promise to reverse some of his predecessor Donald Trump’s most hardline, anti-immigration policies, and he has promoted efforts to develop what the White House calls “a fair, orderly and humane immigration system”.



But the Biden administration has sought to deter migrants and refugees from arriving at the border while also defending Title 42 in court despite criticism from rights groups who said the measure puts asylum seekers’ lives in danger.

Thousands have fled their home countries due to gang violence, political turmoil, environmental disasters and socioeconomic crises, among other factors – and rights advocates say US deterrence policies have done little to stem the flow of arrivals.

According to data from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), border authorities have used Title 42 to turn migrants and refugees away more than 2.5 million times since Trump first invoked it in March 2020, arguing it was needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last April said Title 42 was no longer necessary on public health grounds, and the government announced plans to rescind it – prompting concern over a potential spike in border arrivals.

After a lengthy court battle, a US federal judge in November ordered Title 42 be lifted, but the US Supreme Court late last month agreed to consider whether Republican-led states can challenge the end of the policy, leaving it in place for the time being.

Meanwhile, Biden will travel to El Paso, Texas on Sunday – his first trip to the southern border as president – to meet with local officials to discuss their needs. He then will take a planned trip to Mexico City to meet with North American leaders on Monday.

Migrants and refugees board a bus that will take them to a processing facility, in Eagle Pass, Texas on December 19, 2022 [File: Veronica G Cardenas/AFP]

“I know that migration is putting a real strain on the border and border communities … We’re going to get these communities more support,” Biden said during Thursday’s news conference.

His visit comes amid a campaign by a group of Republican governors, led by Greg Abbott in Texas, who have been sending busloads of migrants and refugees to Democratic-run cities in an effort to “share the burden” of arrivals in US border communities.

In late December, more than 100 people – including children – were transported from Texas and dropped off in subzero temperatures outside the Washington, DC, residence of Vice President Kamala Harris, who Biden appointed as his point person on migration.

Critics have denounced the busing as an inhumane political stunt, saying it puts people in danger.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Biden Stiffens Border Rules Amid GOP Paralysis

With the GOP stalled as it struggles to agree on a House speaker, Biden stepped into the vacuum on one of their signature issues and took control of the debate.


By Susan Milligan
Jan. 5, 2023


Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, second from left, speaks during a news conference, Jan. 5, 2023, in Washington.(SUSAN WALSH/AP)


As House Republicans scrambled to choose the person who will become second in line to the presidency, President Joe Biden on Thursday seized one of his most vulnerable political issues – immigration – with an announcement of new policies meant to ease entry for those who follow the rules while expediting expulsion for those who break them.

READ: GOP Senators Blast Biden Over Border ]

Under the new rules, which senior White House officials said would take effect immediately, would-be immigrants who enter the country illegally and do not have a legal basis to stay will be "increasingly subject to expedited removal to their country of origin" and will be banned from reentering the United States for five years

Meanwhile, the administration will expand a parole process currently in effect for people fleeing political turmoil in Venezuela to include individuals from Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba. Under those rules, up to 30,000 people per month can come to the United States for up to two years and receive work authorization, as long as they have a U.S. sponsor and have passed vetting and background checks, the White House said.

Since those migrants would need a U.S. sponsor and substantial resources to come to the United States, the new rules could squeeze out some of the most vulnerable hopeful immigrants.

But Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the idea was a "humane and orderly way" to help eligible immigrants under a program already used to help Venezuelans and Ukrainians escaping their war-ravaged country to seek refugee here.



"What they do is cut out the ruthless smuggling operations" that have taken migrants' life savings, Mayorkas told reporters Thursday, without the benefit of legal residence.


The Thursday announcement did not include any kind of the sweeping immigration overhaul the administration has sought. And Biden made it clear that he was moved to act because congressional Republicans – who have used the immigration and border issues as campaign darts at the president and other Democrats – would not come to the table and work out a deal on what Biden said had long been a bipartisan matter.

"It's clear that immigration is a political issue that extreme Republicans are always going to run on," Biden said at the White House, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden made his point person on immigration in 2021.

"But now they have a choice. They can keep using immigration to try to score political points or they can help solve the problem. They can help solve the problem and come together to fix a broken issue," Biden said.

READ: The Refugee Program Gets a Makeover ]

Those individuals in the four countries eligible for the "parole" programs could apply through an app while still in their home countries and, if approved, use the approval on the app at a port of U.S. entry. They would not be allowed to seek entry into the United States by migrating through the region and showing up at the Mexican border.

Those who try to enter without using the parole program will not be eligible for the program in the future, Biden said.

Do not – do not just show up at the border,” Biden said, addressing immigrants. "Stay where you are and apply legally.”

The policies are meant to reduce the crush of people at the southern border. Biden said Mexico has agreed to accept up to 30,000 expelled migrants a month.

Biden will also visit El Paso, Texas, on Sunday, meeting a demand Republicans have made for years that the president witness the chaotic scene of migrants sleeping in the streets and burdening border communities and nonprofit resources.

The new policies will continue even if Title 42 – a health order from the Donald Trump era – expires, administration officials said. That order allows for the speedy expulsion of migrants at the border to stop the spread of COVID-19.The Supreme Court recently allowed the rule to stay in place pending a full hearing before the high court, and the Biden administration is arguing on behalf of lifting the rule.

Biden's announcement is unlikely to mollify Republicans, who have been highly critical of the president's border policies. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has gone so far as to bus migrants north – including to the entrance of Harris' vice presidential residence. Nonprofit groups have sought to meet the bewildered migrants to provide food and shelter.

Immigration has been a constant and potent attack issue for Republicans, who have vowed to use their new majority in the House to investigate Biden's performance on border control and to impeach Mayorkas.

The GOP's momentum on those goals has been stalled as it struggled this week to agree on a speaker to lead their party in the chamber. The vacuum allowed Biden, who has said he intends to run for reelection but has not made a formal announcement, to take some control of the debate.

"It's time to stop listening to their inflammatory talk. It's time to look at their record," Biden said of Republicans, adding that he was willing to sit down and talk to any GOPers willing to negotiate "in good faith."

But as long as the House – which when Biden was speaking still did not have a speaker, committees or sworn-in members – declined to act, Biden said, "I'm left with only one choice: to act on my own, to do as much as I can on my own."
 


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