The United States will allow legal entry to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuelaaccording to a policy agreed with Mexico that instead reinforces the expulsions of those who try to cross the border without the necessary documentation.
“Do not come to the border” without having first initiated a legal process, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, requested this Thursday during a speech at the White House.
In recent years thousands of people have fled Central and South America, from Caribbean countries “ruled by oppressive dictators, including Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela,” and to “escape gang violence, which has the same impact, in Haiti,” he said.
Most of the migrants who have recently arrived at the border come from these countries, where they find “a failed system that simply not working as it should”because there is a lack of personnel and immigration judges, the Democratic president affirmed.
Authorities block entry and immediately expel almost all migrants without visas, invoking a health rule known as Title 42 that has stopped millions of people since 2020 as part of anti-covid protocols activated by Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump.
The Democratic government wants to lift Title 42 but is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling. In the meantime, he will use “the tools” available, says Biden. Some tools agreed with Mexico, where tens of thousands of migrants wait to enter the United States as many have achieved over the years.
In reality, this policy is the extension of a measure presented in October to 24,000 Venezuelans that allowed them to enter upon formal request, for which they needed a sponsor, and provided it was by plane.
Now the government will accept up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela but will toughen the restrictions at the border for many others, including those of these nationalities.
The measures take effect immediately, said the Secretary of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkasat a press conference. Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Haitians who try to “cross our border without authorization will be quickly expelled to Mexico, which will accept the return of 30,000 people per month” or “to their country of origin,” he explained.
But “we will receive up to 30,000 people per month from these four countries” who will be able to work in the United States for two years.
“Stay where you are”
To be part of the quota, applicants must refrain from cross the border of the United States, Mexico or Panama starting today, “stay where you are” and apply from there. In addition, they must pass an investigation into their criminal records, have a sponsor in the United States that provides them with financial support, and be vaccinated.
At the same time, Mayorkas added, an application has been created in Spanish and English called CBP One, which is an appointment system for ports of entry that can be requested by mobile phone. Initially it will be available to those who request an exception to Title 42 for humanitarian reasons.
As soon as Title 42 is lifted, something Biden believes will happen this year, this mechanism would remain in effect. Mayorkas has insisted that those who “do not use legal process” will face the consequences, for which the use of expedited deportation has been “increased and improved” under Title 8, which entails a ban on entry to the country for five years.
“As long as America is the land of freedom and opportunity, people are going to try to come” but “we can require them to come here in an orderly manner under American law,” Biden said. Because citizens also have the right, he said, to ensure that the criminal records of those arriving have been checked.
The president is aware that this policy does not solve the problem at the border, where in the last six months “more than 7,000 arrests of human traffickers”. But it’s a “safe, humane, and it works” process, said Biden, who says he previously sent comprehensive legislation to Congress to overhaul “what has been a long-broken immigration system.”
“Republicans in Congress have refused to consider my comprehensive plan,” he said, blaming “extremist Republicans” for the impasse.
Mexico applauded the measures because they expand “labour mobility”, contribute to achieving “orderly, safe, regular and humane migration in the region” and reduce the risks of migrants, he said on Twitter. Roberto Velasco, head of the unit for North America of the foreign ministry.
But they have generated discomfort in the Democratic Party. “We are deeply disappointed,” denounced several senators in a statement that criticizes the expulsion of citizens from countries they consider undemocratic.
The NGOs also put the cry in the sky. “Providing special access to a certain number of people from certain countries undermines the asylum system,” condemns Nicole Melaku, director of NPNA, a coalition of immigrant advocacy organizations, in a statement.