“Starting next week, after virtually registering and being tested for COVID-19 at test sites in Mexico, approved individuals with active cases (Migrants Protection Protocol) will be prosecuted at the port of entry in Hidalgo, TX “the department said in a statement, adding that processing would also begin in Laredo, Texas, thereafter.
The effort is specific to migrants who fall under the so-called policy of staying in Mexico. Another three locations already allow migrants to enter the program.
Under former President Donald Trump, the United States forced migrants from Central America and other parts of the world seeking asylum on the southern border to remain in Mexico until their immigration court hearings in the United States. More than 70,000 people have been submitted to the program. Many waited months, if not years, in miserable conditions and under threat of extortion, sexual assault and kidnapping.
President Joe Biden ended the program, formally known as Migrant Protection Protocols, and kick-started the process of allowing those subject to the policy to gradually enter. For months, the authorities meticulously planned the policy reversal and became involved with immigrant advocacy organizations along the border that worked directly with the migrants.
Since then, the Biden government has estimated that some 25,000 migrants still have active cases. This group will be eligible for the first phase of the reversal. The government began phasing in migrants at three ports of entry – in San Diego and in El Paso and Brownsville, Texas – last month.
As part of the effort, a camp in Matamoros, Mexico – where hundreds of migrants remained in deplorable conditions after being subjected to Trump-era politics – was withdrawn, a DHS spokesman told CNN earlier this month.
International organizations are assisting the process in Mexico. After an individual has virtually registered and is confirmed eligible to enter, they are asked to approach a test site 24 hours before the crossing date. At the test site, migrants are tested for Covid-19. If the result of a test is positive, it will be quarantined for 10 days. Individuals must test negative before coming to the USA.
“Physical presence at a port of entry is not the way to gain access to this phased effort. The United States continues to strictly enforce existing immigration laws, as well as border and travel restrictions related to COVID-19,” the department said in a statement.
