The Biden administration announced Friday (Feb. 12) that it plans to allow tens of thousands of asylum seekers in Mexico awaiting their next immigration court hearings to enter the United States while their cases are being heard.
Fox News reports that authorities say an estimated 25,000 asylum seekers in Mexico are awaiting asylum case hearings and the first will be allowed to enter the U.S. on Feb. 19. They plan to start processing slowly at two border crossings, with each crossing processing up to 300 people a day and a third crossing processing fewer. Administration officials declined to say which border crossings would be opened for fear that asylum seekers would rush to those locations.
The Biden Administration‘s move is undoing a major immigration policy of former President Donald Trump (Trump). The Trump Administration launched the Migrant Protection Protocols in January 2019 to prevent Central American asylum seekers from entering the United States, resulting in about 70,000 asylum seekers joining the “Stay in Mexico The result is that about 70,000 asylum seekers have joined “Stay in Mexico.
On Biden’s first day in office, the Department of Homeland Security swiftly suspended the policy. Subsequently, a number of asylum seekers arrested at the border by former Trump administration border agents were released in the United States and received notices to appear in court.
Biden is quickly making good on his campaign promise to end the Migrant Protection Agreement, although the former Trump administration has said the policy’s implementation was crucial to reversing asylum claims that peaked in 2019. Yet critics say the policy has also made it impossible for these asylum seekers to escape violence in Mexican border cities and has made it difficult for them to find lawyers and communicate with the courts about these cases.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday (Feb. 11) that she is concerned that the limited release in the U.S. could encourage others to cross the border illegally because “we don’t want people to put themselves at risk when it’s not appropriate because we haven’t had enough Time to put a humane and moralized system and process in place. “
Court hearings for asylum seekers participating in “Stay in Mexico” have been suspended since June of last year due to the Communist virus outbreak. The Biden administration may have difficulty telling asylum seekers when they will report to the U.S. border and be able to enter the country.
Homeland Security said it will soon announce an “online registration process” in which people will be able to find out when and where they should report online or by phone. It urged asylum seekers not to report to the border unless instructed to do so.
DHS also requires asylum applicants to take the COVID-19 test before entering the United States.
Border Patrol Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz said Tuesday (Feb. 9) that more than 3,000 people were stopped from crossing the border illegally each day during the first 10 days of February 2021, compared with a daily average of 2,426 in January.
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