Biden ‘opens’ border
DHS to let in asylum seekers
The Biden administration will soon begin allowing migrants waiting in Mexico while their asylum cases are processed to enter the country, in the latest reversal of the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
Starting next Friday, the Department of Homeland Security will begin to phase in a program on the Mexican border to admit migrants with active cases, officials said.
The move undermines the Trump administration’s Remain in Mexico policy, which forced asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while awaiting US proceedings.
“This latest action is another step in our commitment to reform immigration policies that do not align with our nation’s values,” newly confirmed DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
In announcing the new process, the department stressed that only migrants with active cases would be allowed in only at designated spots at designated times.
“This announcement should not be interpreted as an opening for people to migrate irregularly to the United States,” the DHS said.
“We will continue to enforce US immigration law and border security measures throughout this process.”
It also noted that COVID-19 restrictions would be in place.
About 25,000 migrants have active cases, the agency said. Priority will be given to those who are most vulnerable and those who have waited longest.
As a candidate, President Biden vowed to re-establish “humanitarian” immigration policies but after winning election insisted on slow reform to avoid triggering a rush of “2 million people on our border.”
The policy change comes amid a nearly 100 percent surge in illegal crossings at the border.
On Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki struggled to answer how the administration was working to dispel a belief among migrants that the US border was open.
“We continue to convey that this is not the time to come [to the United States],” she said. “The president is committed to putting in place, in partnership with our Department of Homeland Security, a moral and a humane process for processing people at the border, but that capacity is limited right now and it means we’re just not equipped to process people at the pace that we would like to.”
On Wednesday, a Border Patrol report revealed that about 78,000 migrants were apprehended at the Mexican border in January — more than double the number apprehended in that month last year.
The Biden administration has erected a 160,000-square-foot tent city to deal with the surge in Texas.