2023-09-25 15:14:00
(CNN Spanish) — “Depressurize” the border. That is the key to the new agreement reached by the Governments of the United States and Mexico in a new attempt to find solutions to the crisis of migrants seeking to reach the border between the two countries that have the Governments of both countries under pressure and which has created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the region.
The governments of the United States and Mexico reached an agreement to deport undocumented immigrants from their border cities to their countries of origin and take several measures to deter them as part of a new effort to combat the recent increase in irregular crossings at the southern border from Mexico.
The agreement comes following an increase in crossings of undocumented immigrants at the southern border of the United States, which in recent weeks once more reached figures before the expiration of Title 42, with 8,000 border arrests in one day, the week pass. Daily arrest numbers had dropped dramatically to 3,500 per day following the end of Title 42.
Between January 1 and September 22, 2023, federal immigration agents have “rescued”—the euphemism for detentions used by the Government of Mexico—just over 1.4 million migrants and of those, regarding 788,000 were returned by land and air, said the National Migration Institute, in a statement, this Friday.
But due to ongoing mass migration across the Western Hemisphere, increases in crossings have once once more been recorded, so the US and Mexican governments reached an agreement to depressurize northern Mexican cities that border El Paso, Eagle Pass, in Texas and San Diego, in California, launching a plan to deport migrants that would return them to their countries of origin, in addition to launching a series of actions to prevent the railway system from being used to reach the border with the United States.
Here are some keys to what we know regarding the agreement and the migrant crisis:
What does the immigration agreement between Mexico and the US consist of?
The agreement, simply put, is that undocumented immigrants will be deported from their border cities to their countries of origin and measures will be taken to discourage them from making the trip across the continent to seek asylum in the United States.
A series of points were also agreed upon to prevent migrants from risking their lives when using the rail system to reach the border between the United States and Mexico, according to the National Migration Institute of Mexico.
What happens at the border for this decision to be made?
There is currently a flow of migrants traveling towards the southern border of the United States amid an unprecedented mass migration in the Western Hemisphere.
Although the United States Government has implemented A series of measures for migrants to enter the country legally — such as a CBPOne mobile app to prevent illegal crossings and migrant centers in some Western Hemisphere countries for migrants to submit visa applications — desperation and misinformation by smugglers have led to migrants to cross anyway.
And in recent weeks, undocumented immigrant crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border have increased, topping 8,600 in a 24-hour period last week, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official. That represents an increase of regarding 3,500 daily arrests at the border following the expiration of Title 42 in May triggered new consequences for those who cross the border illegally.
Additionally, following the recent increase in illegal crossings into the US, an international bridge was temporarily closed and Mexico’s main freight train system was temporarily halted.
Some 6,500 immigrants are detained in El Paso alone, which “has a limited amount of resources,” Mayor Oscar Leeser said at a press conference this Saturday.
“We have reached what we consider a breaking point at this point,” the mayor said.
What actions were agreed upon?
Mexican and US officials agreed to implement 15 actions, some in coordination with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Ferromex, to meet the needs of the rail system and deter migrants from risk their lives on the train, according to Mexico’s National Migration Institute. These are some:
1. Deport migrants to their countries of origin by land and air.
2. Allow CBP to expel migrants through the Ciudad Juárez international bridge, which connects to El Paso.
3. Carry out negotiations with the Governments of Venezuela, Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia and Cuba for the reception of their deported citizens.
4. Carrying out interventions on railways and roads.
5. Establish checkpoints along the Ferromex railway route.
6. Provide the CBP El Paso Sector with a daily report on the number of migrants on the train system.
7. Establish shelters at the gates of Ciudad Juárez to serve migrants, especially children and adolescents.
What other measures is the Biden administration taking in the face of the migrant crisis?
Biden has been plagued by problems at the border since his first months in office, when the United States faced a surge of unaccompanied migrant children that caught officials by surprise. Over the past two years, his administration has continued to face fierce opposition from Republicans (and, at times, Democrats) over its immigration policies.
That complicated political landscape was clearly highlighted last week when images of migrants crossing into the United States emerged at the same time that the Government announced important measures to guarantee the orderly immigration of thousands of Venezuelans already in the United States and so that they are eligible to work, with the expansion of Temporary Protected Status (TPS, for its acronym in English).
Biden, who faces decisive months ahead of the looming presidential election, lashed out at Republicans in Congress, saying they “continue to undermine our border security” by blocking bipartisan efforts to pass immigration reform.
Without immigration reform, the Biden Administration has implemented a patchwork of policies to try to stop the flow of immigrants, which has not deterred thousands of migrants from crossing the border without documents.
Why did this recent flow of mass migration occur?
U.S. Homeland Security officials are monitoring the situation and, while they did not give a clear explanation for what led to the latest surge, they cited poor economies, authoritarian regimes and the climate crisis as forces driving migration.
— With information from CNN’s Rosa Flores, Sara Weisfeldt, Emma Tucker, Priscilla Alvarez and Nicole Chávez.
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