The Biden government is considering taking migrants who illegally cross the US-Mexico border to near the US-Canada border for processing, as a way of easing pressure on overloaded facilities in Texas, according to a new report.
The tactic is being considered amid a wave of border crossings that critics attribute to President Biden’s policies and reform of legislation that would create a path for citizenship for most illegal immigrants.
Two officials from the Department of Homeland Security told the Washington Post that the government is considering aerial lifts to the northern border due to the large number of unaccompanied children and families crossing the south.
Authorities told the Washington Post that on Friday morning 1,000 people who were unaccompanied minors or in family units crossed the Rio Grande to Texas, and that another 1,000 were still awaiting processing on Thursday night.
The Biden government has used a Trump-era COVID-19 policy to expel most single adults, but has said that all unaccompanied children will be admitted at least temporarily and that families will only be expelled if Mexico has space to shelter them.
The new figures suggest a growing crisis.
Along the US-Mexico border in February, there were 29,792 children detained without their parents – about five times more than in January – of which 2,942 were under 12, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
The total number of people arrested along the Mexican border increased to more than 100,000 in February, an increase of 28% over January.
Democratic leaders insisted on Friday that the situation at the border was “under control” while Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas traveled to the southern border to inspect the facilities. Mayorkas’ trip was closed to the press.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Said that “I think the government is putting this thing under control”, while recognizing that the Biden government has changed some policies, such as no longer expelling minors.
“In the spring, more people will come, so there will be more like now,” Pelosi said at a news conference on Friday.
“The Biden government has everything under control. It will take a while – it is a change and it will take some time. But it is based on values, humanitarian in its aspects and pragmatic with a plan to get things done ”.
On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed bills that would create a path for citizenship for up to half of the estimated illegal immigrants in the US, including rural workers and children who arrived as minors. Many Republicans said the bills create new “attraction” factors for migration.
Last month, Biden ended Trump’s “Stay in Mexico” policy, which required Central American asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while U.S. courts analyzed his claims.
Biden halted the construction of his predecessor’s border wall with Mexico and issued an order stating the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which grants work permits and protection against deportation to people illegally brought to the US as minors
Biden also proposed legislation to create a path to citizenship for almost all of the approximately 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. On Thursday, Biden tweeted that he wanted Congress to pass legislation that “would legalize the undocumented population in the United States.”