The number of arrests that occurred on the southwestern border of States has been reduced by 40% in the three weeks that President Joe Biden’s executive order restricting the right to asylum has been in effect. This was announced this Wednesday by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, at a press conference in Tucson, Arizona, which followed the publication of his department’s statement. Border patrol encounters with migrants crossing illegally have fallen to less than 2,400 daily, below the limit of 2,500 irregular entries that Biden established on June 4 to close the border, according to the data provided. It is the lowest level of arrests since January 17, 2021, but still well above the barrier of 1,500 irregular crossings daily for seven consecutive days that would lift the restrictions.
Mayorkas pointed out that in Tucson the drop in irregular entries has been more than 45% since the president imposed the new measures and that repatriations of people detained in this city have increased almost 150%. “As a result, in Tucson we have seen a decrease of more than 80% of people who have initiated judicial regularization processes,” he added.
The data was released one day before the debate between Biden and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on November 5. The issue of immigration has become increasingly important throughout the campaign, becoming one of the factors that will undoubtedly determine the vote of millions of voters in key electoral states, especially those most affected by the influx of migrants, such as Arizona.
Republicans have focused their campaign on attacking the Biden Administration for avoiding the crisis caused by the massive arrival of migrants at the border and Trump has promised that if he wins the elections he will carry out the largest deportation of migrants in the history of the United States. The former president’s latest strategy has been to blame Biden for the death of 12-year-old girl Jocelyn Nungaray, allegedly murdered by undocumented migrants and whose body was found on June 17 in a Houston stream.
Given the failure of Congress to reach a bipartisan agreement to address the problem, Biden issued an executive order on June 4 that contemplates the closure of the border if more than 2,500 irregular daily crossings occur during a week, a limit widely exceeded in the last months.
Mayorkas insisted that congressional action is still needed to address the migration crisis. “Executive actions are not a substitute for congressional action. Only Congress can provide a comprehensive and lasting solution. Only Congress, through legislation, can fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system, which was last updated nearly 30 years ago. Only Congress can give us the resources we need. We have been starved for resources for decades,” he said. Mayorkas added that a bipartisan agreement would provide 1,500 Border Patrol agents and 1,200 immigration agents.
Last week the Government already announced that irregular crossings had fallen by 25% since the new order came into force and the latest data provided show that the trend continues downward. The State Department has also stressed that the number of chartered flights will increase to expedite the repatriation of migrants. Currently, an average of 29 weekly flights are made for this purpose. At the same time, diplomatic efforts are being made to increase the number of countries with which there are repatriation agreements.
“Noncitizens subject to the rule limiting asylum and who have no legal basis to remain in the United States are being expelled immediately,” the Department statement said. Those expelled are subject to a re-entry ban of at least five years and possible criminal prosecution.
According to the Department, more than 24,000 individuals have been returned to 20 countries, including those repatriated on 100 international flights. In the 12 months since the controversial Title 42 was repealed in May of last year, 740,000 people have been expelled, more than any year since 2010. This has included more repatriations to countries other than Mexico than in any previous year. The Biden Administration claims to have increased border controls to, among other measures, identify known or suspected gang members, including members of the Venezuelan gang Ten de Aragua.
The strict measures imposed by the Democratic president at the border have caused unrest among the most progressive wing of his party. Three Democratic representatives have announced the creation of a group in Congress to address the global problem of immigration in the world by studying the roots of the problem, what has been done about it and how it can be solved. The congressmen leading the initiative are Delia Ramírez, from Illinois, Greg Casar, from Texas, and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, from California.
In an interview with NBC News, Ramirez said Democrats have done a “terrible job” of talking about immigration and responding to the fundamental problems with it. “We have simply reacted and apologized rather than moving in the direction that positions Congress as an effective ally for global efforts that create a safer, more equitable world where people do not have to come to the United States,” he said.
If on the one hand Biden has toughened his immigration policy by restricting the right to asylum, on the other he has given protection to long-term migrants living in the United States. Three weeks after issuing the new border rules, the president signed an executive order granting permanent residency to the spouses of US citizens who have been residing in the country for more than 10 years. The authorities have estimated that around half a million people, who have spent an average of 23 years residing in the country, will benefit from the measure. Some 50,000 children of these migrants will also be eligible for regularization.
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