The Biden administration plans to gradually allow 25,000 asylum seekers awaiting asylum case processing to enter the U.S. The first asylum seekers entered on Feb. 19 in San Diego, Calif. Pictured are vehicles exiting the U.S.-Mexico Border Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in San Diego on the same day.
As a result of changes to immigration policy made by the Biden Administration, on Feb. 19, the U.S. government approved Central American asylum seekers who have been in Mexico since January 2019, awaiting asylum case processing, to enter the United States.
The first group of asylum seekers, about 25 in total, entered the country on the morning of Feb. 19 from the San Ysidro Port of Entry in southern San Diego County, California, where they will travel to the destinations they want to reach with the help of a local NGO.
Michael Hopkins, CEO of Jewish Family Service, a local San Diego NGO, told the Associated Press that asylum seekers entering the country that day had tested negative for the COVID-19 virus in Mexico and would be taken to a hotel in San Diego for quarantine before being flown or bused to their final destinations.
According to Hopkins, the government next expects to approve 25 asylum seekers under the Remain in Mexico program at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego each day. The program is part of the Migrant Protection Protocols, introduced by former President Trump in 2019 to prevent Central American asylum seekers from entering the United States. The program requires foreigners seeking U.S. asylum to wait for a U.S. court hearing in Mexico.
The San Ysidro entry point at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego is one of the busiest in the Western Hemisphere, and immigration officials say it can clear 300 asylum seekers a day. But Hopkins said it’s unclear when they will change their goal of releasing 25 asylum seekers a day.
In addition to San Diego County, California, the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, will begin approving asylum seekers under the “Stay in Mexico” program next Monday, Feb. 22, and El Paso County, Texas, will begin approving eligible asylum seekers next Friday, Feb. 26. El Paso County, Texas, will also begin granting entry to eligible asylum seekers next Friday, Feb. 26.
U.S. officials warned that asylum seekers without existing immigration cases should not be present at immigration, that the government will send transit notices to eligible asylum seekers, and that asylum seekers with existing immigration cases and those seeking appeals can register on the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees’ website starting next week. Registration.
The Jewish Family Service organization will provide hotel rooms for asylum seekers who enter the country in San Diego County, California, and will arrange transportation and health screenings for them. Hopkins said that if asylum seekers cannot afford bus or airfare to their destination, they will help provide it and purchase winter clothing for them if needed.
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