Biden says Mexico will step up border security assistance, plans El Paso border trip

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Thursday that Mexico has agreed to accept the return of migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba who enter the US illegally, a major step in his administration’s plan to dramatically increase the number of deportations at the southern border.

Biden said Mexico has agreed to accept up to 30,000 migrants a month from each country. Typically, these people are returned to their home countries, but their governments are unwilling to take the people back, leaving them in the US.

“My message is this. If you are trying to leave Cuba, Nicaragua or Haiti, or have agreed to start a journey to America, do not just show up at the border, ”Biden said in his speech from the White House. “Stay where you are and apply legally from there.”

Biden’s first trip to the border

“Carefully, safely humanely”: Faced with criticism for not doing enough to stop illegal border crossings, Biden outlined what he called “orderly, safe, and humane” ways to strengthen border controls while expanding legal routes into the US. The plan is to increasingly use a quick deportation process known as “expedited removal” for people who entered the US illegally.
Biden headed to El Paso: The moves — a sweeping overhaul of existing immigration rules — came after Biden announced he would visit El Paso, Texas on Sunday, as part of his first trip to the southern border since taking office.
The rules will remain even if Section 42 ends: The new rules will remain in place no matter what the Supreme Court rules on Section 42, a Trump-era public health policy that allows the US to turn down migrant asylum seekers. “We cannot prevent people from making the journey, but we can require that they arrive here in an orderly manner in accordance with US law,” Biden said.

What Biden announced

While the US will immediately turn away Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans who cross the border illegally, it is creating the capacity to admit up to 30,000 people a month from sponsored countries that pass background checks.
The administration says it’s an extension of a similar policy launched exclusively for Venezuelans that began in October and resulted in a sharp drop in the number of Venezuelans trying to enter the US illegally.
The US will also take in 20,000 refugees from Latin America and the Caribbean over the next two years, which the administration says will more than triple the intake of refugees from the Western Hemisphere.
Migrants who attempt to enter the US without permission and cannot be removed under Section 42 pandemic policy will increasingly be subject to “expedited removal” and a five-year ban on re-entry.

Biden’s agenda in El Paso

During his trip to El Paso, Biden said he would look into border issues and meet with local authorities. He is also expected to call on Congress to fully fund his border security budget request and pass legislation to overhaul the immigration system.

The president’s visit comes ahead of a two-day trip starting Monday to Mexico, where the biggest migration to the US since World War II will take center stage in talks with Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador.

Why is it important

Biden is being pressured to detail his plans to deal with the influx of migrants at the US-Mexico border. Border security is a top priority for Republicans, who took control of the House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections and criticized Biden for not visiting the border. Republicans also vowed to investigate the administration’s actions on the issue.

“It is clear that immigration is a political issue that Radical Republicans will always lean on. But now they have a choice,” Biden said. “They can continue to use immigration to try to score political points, or they can help fix the problem… and come together to fix the broken system.”

He said that as long as Republicans “demagogue this issue and reject solutions,” he will do everything in his power “on his own” to deal with the influx of migrants.

Background

Trip to Mexico: Biden travels to Mexico January 9-10 to meet Obrador. Migration will be “top of the list of issues they will discuss,” White House spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. Other priorities are climate change and drug trafficking, including the cross-border flow of fentanyl.
Influx of migrants: More than 2.38 million migrants were stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border during the fiscal year ending September 30, the first time the number exceeded 2 million in a year.
State of emergency: El Paso Mayor Oscar Lesser declared a state of emergency last month after the border patrol released more than 10,000 asylum seekers and other migrants in one week. Hundreds slept on city streets.
Title 42: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned last month that there would be “total chaos” at the border if the pandemic policy, which allows the federal government to expel migrants quickly, is ended. The Supreme Court said the Section 42 policy should continue while the courts consider lawsuits filed by Republican officials in 19 states who want to keep Section 42 in place.
Vice President Harris: His speech was attended by Vice President Kamala Harris, who was tasked with addressing the root causes of migration early in the administration.

What they’re saying

U.S. Senator John Cornyn, D-Tex., said he was glad Biden would finally visit the southern border, but said it couldn’t be a “flag photo op.” He added: “If he wants to make this trip meaningful, to find tough solutions to the complete disaster his policies have created, I would be happy to point him in the right direction.”
Biden dismissed suggestions that his visit to El Paso was the result of succumbing to Republican pressure. “Republicans didn’t take it seriously at all. Come on. They didn’t take it seriously at all,” he said. “I wanted to make sure I knew what the outcome would be – at least the immediate outcome – for the 42 title before I lost.”
Jonathan Blazer, director of border strategies for the American Civil Liberties Union, said Biden’s actions tie his administration “to the venomous anti-immigrant policies of the Trump era instead of restoring fair access to asylum protection.” He said the new entry program for Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians should not be tied to expelling an equal number of migrants.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Majorcas said the Biden administration’s plan “really has nothing to do” with the Trump administration’s transit ban because the plan expands legal pathways for migrants and allows asylum seekers to seek assistance at ports of entry with humanitarian exemptions for deportations.