Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Director Mark Morgan said Tuesday (Dec. 29) that if Biden ends up in the White House, canceling humanitarian agreements that help protect the U.S. southern border will likely lead to a “wave” of illegal immigrants trying to cross the border.
The Trump administration has finalized agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to restrict illegal immigrants from seeking asylum in the United States.
“These humanitarian agreements demonstrate the Trump Administration’s unwavering efforts to secure U.S. borders from illegal entry by working closely with our regional partners. Without these agreements, we would likely have seen a wave of attempted illegal entries similar to that of 2019.” CBP Acting Director Morgan said in a statement.
Biden and his advisers did not respond to a request for comment from the English-language Epoch Times. Biden’s team has previously said they plan to cancel the agreements if Biden is elected president.
“I’ve begun discussions with the president of Mexico and our friends in Latin America about these issues. The schedule is such that we, in fact, make it better, not worse. The last thing we need is for us to immediately stop the access to asylum pathway that’s running right now, which is keeping 2 million people on our border.” Biden said last week.
He also said it would take about six months to prepare to revoke the agreements.
Biden’s national security adviser nominee, Jake Sullivan, was more blunt in an interview with Spain’s EFE news agency. He said the Trump administration’s “asylum cooperation agreement” denies asylum seekers the right to apply for asylum in the United States, rather than helping to create alternative pathways to protection. That’s why Biden will “move to quickly rescind these agreements as part of our bilateral engagement with these governments.
Biden has previously pledged to rescind some of President Trump’s decisions to restrict asylum to illegal immigrants on his first day in office if he is elected president. He also promised a radical shift in Trump’s illegal immigration policies, including a halt to the construction of a border wall, a 100-day moratorium on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations, the creation of a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and an end to asylum cooperation agreements with Northern Triangle countries that have helped stem the flow of migrants to the U.S. border.
However, senior advisers to Biden’s team said Dec. 22 that making certain changes to President Trump’s immigration policy will take time and that (illegal) immigrants should not expect the border to be “completely open” immediately.
Sullivan told EFE that Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP) will eventually be ended, but it will take time to prepare.
The MPP is seen as the cornerstone of the Trump administration’s effort to end the Democrat-backed “catch and release” policy that has resulted in 90 percent of illegal border crossers either being deported quickly or returned to Mexico pending asylum applications.
The Trump administration says the MPP has effectively eliminated the pull factor that attracts illegal immigrants to the border, and warns that reversing the policy would lead to a surge in illegal immigration at the border.
“If the MPP goes away, it would be absolutely devastating.” CBP acting director Morgan said recently.
More than 67,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border this November. Morgan told reporters earlier this month that the message from Biden and his team was an invitation to illegal immigrants.
“The message you’re sending is clear and simple – we have open borders.” Morgan said.
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