More than 1.66 million immigrants who attempted to cross the southern border into the United States illegally have been detained by US agents in the past twelve months. This is the highest number of arrests ever recorded on the US-Mexico border and represents a major crisis for the government of US President Joe Biden. The data were released on Friday (22) by the Customs and Border Protection Service (CBP) and refer to fiscal year 2021, which ended in September.
The number of Brazilians who tried to enter the US also had a significant increase this year. Between October 2020 and September this year, there were more than 56,000 arrests of Brazilians on the southern border, mostly families, according to CBP data. In September alone, 10,445 Brazilians were detained by agents on the country’s southern border. Throughout 2019, this number was 17.9 thousand.
The previous record was for the year 2000, when US border agents detained 1.64 million migrants (of all nationalities), according to data that are reported since 1960.
Several factors contributed to the increase in migration to the US, especially the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected the world economy. But also the impression made by the Biden administration that it would be easier to enter the US.
Brazilian profile has changed
“Many were under the impression that now, with the Biden government, everyone can enter. But it wasn’t quite like that,” said Felipe Alexandre, an immigration attorney and founder of AG Immigration, a US immigration law firm. According to him, people interpreted that it would be much easier to enter the US during the Biden administration, but this greater ease only applies to people who have more professional qualifications or who are threatened in their home countries.
“Brazil is not a country that sends many refugees. You have to prove that you’re facing political or religious persecution,” says Alexandre, adding that Brazilians who get asylum in the US are the ones who prove to be at risk because of domestic violence or their sexual orientation, for example.
According to the lawyer, the profile of Brazilians seeking to move to the US has changed in the last ten years. The Brazilians who go to do more physical work continue to arrive in the North American country, but the number of those who seek to stay in the country for their professional qualifications has increased a lot.
The strategy used by many migrants who manage to cross the border is to surrender themselves to the authorities. “They will have an interview. If they pass this interview, they have a chance of being released on bail or in some cases without bail. That’s how it’s happening”, explains Alexandre.
Criticism of the Democratic Government
A public health rule implemented by Donald Trump’s government at the start of the pandemic in 2020 continues to be used by the Biden administration to justify the expulsion of incoming migrants. In the past 12 months, the Border Patrol has expelled more than a million migrants under this law, called Title 42.
Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for the current crisis, saying the overthrow of tougher Trump-era policies was an incentive for migrants to try to cross the border. The Biden government, on the other hand, says that the increase in the flow of migration is caused by the situation of poverty and violence in the countries of origin.
“What we are seeing on the southern border is a crisis,” Mike Pompeo, secretary of state in the Trump administration, said on Twitter on Friday. “If the Biden administration had kept the policies we had in place, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Criticism also came from some Democratic activists and politicians, especially over authorities’ response to the increase in illegal crossings by Haitians last month, when scenes of agents on horseback caused controversy. Many also criticized the government for sending Haitians back to their country on the basis of Title 42, which would be preventing Haitians from seeking asylum.
record numbers
The number of children found by US border agents without parents or guardians was also the highest on record. More than 147,000 unaccompanied children were found in the last twelve months. About 11,000 children remain in US government custody, according to the New York Times.
Mexico is the biggest source of illegal migration to the US in the last year, with more than 608,000 Mexicans detained at the border. Next are Central Americans Honduras (308,000) and Guatemala (279,000).
Arrests of Haitians rose sharply in 2021, with more than 45,000 Haitian citizens stranded on the US-Mexico border.
South American countries are also the source of a significant number of irregular migrants in the US. More than 95,000 Ecuadorians have been detained on the southern border in the last twelve months. In the same period, more than 47,000 Venezuelans and 5,800 Colombians were arrested.
The high number of arrests can be explained in part because the Title 42 evictions, which quickly send people back to their countries of origin, have led to an unusual number of migrants crossing the border and being arrested several times, according to forbes.
“Unprecedented” flow of Brazilians
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke this week with Carlos França, Brazil’s foreign minister, about the “unprecedented” flow of migration from Brazil to the US. In a phone call on Tuesday (19), the heads of diplomacy of the two countries discussed how to collaborate to reduce the number of migrants on their way to the US.
Blinken and France discussed “unprecedented irregular migratory movements across the hemisphere” and how the two nations could work together to “stop the uncontrolled growth of irregular migrants in the region,” said US State Department spokesman Ned Price, according to The Reuters.
To contain the irregular migration flow, Washington asked Mexico to start requiring visas from Brazilian visitors, which has not happened since 2004, and therefore migrants had an easier path to the US.
Blinken also praised Brazil for its “leadership in assisting vulnerable migrant populations, including Haitians and Venezuelans”.
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