The Biden administration recently announced that tens of thousands of Central American refugees who came to the U.S. seeking asylum but were left waiting in Mexico under Trump administration policy will be allowed to enter the U.S. pending consideration of their applications by immigration courts.
According to the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press, the first 25,000 refugees seeking asylum will be allowed to enter the U.S. from three U.S.-Mexico border posts starting Feb. 19. But Biden Administration officials declined to provide specific locations for the three border posts, fearing more refugees would flock to them.
Officials say the action is an important step for the Biden administration to undo former President Trump’s policy of stopping the influx of asylum seekers to the United States.
The Trump Administration has been implementing the “Stay in Mexico” Migrant Protection Protocols since January 2019 to prevent Central American refugees from entering the U.S. on the basis of asylum applications, in an effort to stem the dramatic spike in Central American families seeking asylum.
It is estimated that there are currently about 70,000 refugees waiting for asylum in Mexico. Before the “Stay in Mexico” policy was implemented, refugees seeking asylum were usually allowed to enter the United States and could legally work while their applications were being processed. Many enter the U.S. and then automatically disappear, ignoring the outcome of immigration court hearings.
The Biden administration said those refugees were told that they did not need to take any action and simply had to wait for further instructions from the government.
Republican Rep. John Katko, a senior member of the House National Security Committee, criticized Biden’s new measure, saying, “We are rapidly entering dangerous territory for the 2019 border crisis. The situation at the border combined with the current rampant Epidemic has created a storm of security, humanitarian and public health issues.”
U.S.-Mexico Border Patrol Deputy Director Raul Ortiz said the number of illegal immigrants trying to sneak into the country has been increasing since Jan. 27, with more than 3,000 people stopped for crossing the border illegally each day for the past 10 days and an average of 2,426 people stopped each day in January.
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