[1/5] A young immigrant waits for food at a border fence as immigrants congregate between the primary and secondary border fences as the US prepares to lift its COVID-19-era Title 42. boy…
SAN DIEGO/WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) – The United States will lift border restrictions due to the novel coronavirus disease known as Title 42 on Thursday night. This is a major change, with tens of thousands of migrants flocking to the U.S.-Mexico border, straining local communities and communities. Intensifying political divisions.
The number of migrants caught illegally entering the country has increased in recent weeks, with daily arrests surpassing 10,000 on Monday and Tuesday. US border cities are struggling to protect new arrivals and provide transportation to their next destination.
Against a backdrop of chaos, the administration of US President Joe Biden is rushing personnel and funds to the border while introducing new regulations denying asylum to most migrants who cross the border illegally. The new measures will take effect when Title 42 ends with the widespread public health emergency caused by COVID-19.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorcas said the new rules meant harsher consequences for immigrants who entered the country illegally, and if they were caught they would be deported if they weren’t eligible for asylum and banned from entering the United States for five years. said it was possible.
Republicans have accused Democrat Biden, who is seeking re-election in 2024, for lifting the restrictive policies of former Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
But in recent days, Biden administration officials have stepped up their attacks on Republicans, accusing them of failing to fix immigration laws and provide adequate border funding.
“I asked Congress for a lot of money for border security, and they didn’t,” Mr. Biden told reporters on Wednesday.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is aiming to pass a bill Thursday that would strengthen border security and limit access to asylum, but it will struggle in the narrowly Democratic-controlled Senate.
Since Biden took office in January 2021, the country has achieved a record 4.6 million arrests of illegal immigrants, including many re-enters. .Reuters/Ipsos poll Released this week Only 26% of voters approved of Biden’s handling of immigration.
In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who has vehemently criticized Biden’s border policies, said: expanded National Guard deployments continue this week to “help deter and repel large groups of immigrants attempting to enter Texas illegally.”
Asked Wednesday whether the Texas National Guard was crossing legal lines by taking on border patrol duties, Mayorkas said he would let the Justice Department decide.
with small children
Some immigrants are trying to scramble across even though Title 42 is still in effect as the Biden administration announced it would step up enforcement based on the new asylum standards.
In San Diego, California, hundreds of immigrants, including many young children, often spend days in a no-man’s land between two high border walls to await processing by overwhelmed U.S. border officials. stuck.
On Wednesday, U.S. volunteers handed sandwiches across the cracks in the wall, saying conditions between the two walls were “bad” amidst widespread confusion over the policy change.
Joshua, 23, an immigrant from Venezuela, asked Reuters to use only his first name, but wanted to enter the United States before the policy change. He said he left his wife and daughter at the Tijuana border in Mexico because he didn’t want to take them to the dangerous jungle that separates Colombia and Panama.
“With God’s help, nothing is impossible,” he added.
Fellow Venezuelan immigrant Luis Rivero said this week through the border fence that separates Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, from El Paso, Texas, that he wants to cross the border now because the new policies are “getting tougher.”
Reported by Mike Blake of San Diego, Ted Hesson of Washington and Lisbeth Diaz of Mexico City. Additional reporting by Jose Luis Gonzalez of El Paso, Texas and Christina Cook of San Francisco.Editing: Mary Milliken and Jamie Freed
Our criteria: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.