SAN DIEGO (AP) – The Biden government announced plans on Friday for tens of thousands of asylum seekers and were forced to wait in Mexico under a Trump-era policy to be allowed to enter the United States while their cases are pending in the United States. immigration courts.
The first wave of about 25,000 asylum seekers with active cases in the “Stay in Mexico” program he will be allowed to enter the United States on February 19, officials said. They plan to start slowly, with two border crossings processing up to 300 people each day and a third crossing taking fewer numbers.
President Joe Biden’s administration declined to publicly identify the three passages, fearing that it might encourage a race for people, but Congressman Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, said officials told him it was Brownsville and El Paso, Texas, and San Diego San Ysidro crossing.
The move is a big step towards dismantling one of former President Donald Trump’s most important policies to prevent asylum seekers from coming to the United States. About 70,000 asylum seekers have been enrolled in the program officially called Protocols for the Protection of Migrants since it was introduced in January 2019.
On Biden’s first day in office, the Department of Homeland Security suspended policy for newcomers. Since then, some asylum seekers caught at the border have been released in the United States with notifications to appear in court.
Biden is quickly fulfilling the campaign promise to end the policy, which the Trump administration said was instrumental in reversing the increase in asylum seekers that peaked in 2019. But the policy also exposed people to violence in the Mexican border cities and it made it extremely difficult for them to find lawyers and communicate with the courts about their cases.
“As President Biden has made clear, the US government is committed to rebuilding a safe, orderly and humane immigration system,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “This latest action is another step in our commitment to reform immigration policies that do not align with our nation’s values.”
Asylum seekers will be released with warnings to appear in courts in nearby cities or their final destinations, usually with the family, government officials said.
Homeland Security said the measure “should not be interpreted as an opening for people to migrate irregularly to the United States”. Government officials say the vast majority of people who cross the border illegally are quickly expelled under a public health order that Trump put into effect in March amid the coronavirus pandemic. But some families seeking asylum have been released in Texas and California, working against that message.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday that she was concerned that limited US releases could encourage others to cross illegally.
“We don’t want people to put themselves in danger at a time when it’s not the right time to come, because we haven’t had time to put a human and moral system and process into practice,” she said.
Court hearings for people enrolled in the “Stay in Mexico” program have been suspended since June because of the pandemic. Informing them about when to show up at the border for release in the United States can be daunting work.
Homeland Security said it will soon announce a “virtual registration process” online and over the phone to let people know where and when they should be presenting. He urged asylum seekers not to report to the border, unless instructed.
The International Organization for Migration will assist with logistics and test asylum seekers for COVID-19 before entering the United States, said spokeswoman Liz Lizama. The director of the UN migration agency in Mexico, Dana Graber Ladek, said she will seek to inform asylum seekers across the country about eligibility.
The announcement does not offer relief to people whose cases have been dismissed or dismissed, although government officials have not ruled out additional measures. Defenders argue that communication problems, including the lack of business addresses in Mexico, have caused some people to miss hearings and, as a result, lose their cases.
Mexico agreed to accept more asylum seekers back in June 2019 to counter Trump’s threats of tariff hikes. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador welcomed Biden’s changes, saying at a news conference on Friday that it would be “good” for the United States to host them while their cases circulate through the system.
Remain in Mexico’s releases will come as more people are being prevented from crossing the border illegally since Biden took office, challenging the government in its early days.
Raul Ortiz, deputy chief of the Border Patrol, said Tuesday that more than 3,000 people were stopped in each of the previous 10 days, compared with a daily average of 2,426 in January.
About 50 to 80 adults and children arrive daily since January 27 at the Catholic Charities in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, which temporarily shelters people released by the Border Patrol, said Sister Norma Pimentel, the group’s executive director. The charity tests COVID-19 and sends all positive results to a hotel for isolation.
The San Diego Jewish Family Service housed 191 asylum seekers in the first 10 days of February after they were released, compared with 144 in January and 54 in December, said Eitan Peled, the group’s border services advocate. They are quarantined in hotels for 10 days.
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Associated Press writer Maria Verza from Mexico City contributed.