EL PASO—The Biden administration is preparing to lift emergency health rules that have been used to prevent hundreds of thousands of immigrants from entering the United States, sparking political tensions and straining resources. The southern border is setting the stage for a surge in immigration.
Barring a last-minute legal challenge, the Trump-era policy, known as Title 42, expires Thursday at 11:59 p.m. ET. It was introduced three years ago under the premise of preventing the spread of Covid-19.
Border Patrol, state and local officials, even President Biden’s entourage in Washington are preparing for the upcoming arrival of tens of thousands of migrants. Since 2020, people have already started crossing into US border towns in hopes of ending Title 42, which has allowed the government to quickly deport citizens of multiple countries to Mexico.
Three Texas cities—Brownsville, Laredo, and El Paso—have declared states of emergency. Last week, outside the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in downtown El Paso, the spectacle of human misery fanned out for several blocks, with every inch of the sidewalk occupied by impoverished immigrants.
In just a few days, it has surged from a few dozen to nearly 2,000, and more continue to arrive. The family sleeps on a folded cardboard box at night and sticks a sheet to the fence for shade during the day. The able-bodied are demanding bus fares to Houston, Denver, and Orlando. Small children roam the alleys, scavenging for food and begging for change.
“This is a real crisis,” said Father Rafael Garcia one day last week, as he surveyed the crowds that were sprawling in all directions. What will happen to this development?」
That question lies at the heart of a monumental challenge with a grim history. about 35,000 migrants in Ciudad Juarez, another 15,000 in Tijuana and thousands more on the Mexican side of the 2,000-mile border .
White House officials said they had been working for months to prepare for the expected surge. They built temporary facilities to house thousands of migrants, hired contractors, and reduced processing time for those in custody. They are also taking steps to facilitate more orderly migration flows.
A draconian new rule that disqualifies asylum seekers who did not first seek asylum in another country will come into force on Thursday. At the same time, the administration is working with the United Nations and other countries to open processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala to encourage migrants to seek refuge in the United States or other countries without trekking to the border. Added programs for immigrants from several other countries.
The president last week ordered 1,500 troops to assist at the border. Officials, however, expect a large influx of people over the next few days. Mr. Biden is grappling with global shifts in migration patterns, economic forces and social unrest that are continually pushing people north. And within the United States, the debate over how to fix the broken immigration system remains polarized and heated, posing serious political risks for all concerned as the 2024 election season begins. increase.
No one knows what will happen after Thursday. The federal government expects as many as 13,000 immigrants each day immediately after the measures end, up from about 6,000 on normal days. But when asked by reporters what was likely to happen, an official stationed along the border said, “I don’t know.” I think,” he said.
Even while Title 42 was in place along the southern and northern borders of the United States, the number of people entering the United States illegally increased sharply and their profile changed. Countries such as Venezuela, China, India, and Russia have braved the arduous journey to reach America’s doorstep.
The impact of an increase in cross-border immigration of more than 3 million people in the first 18 months of a Biden administration, the largest in decades, extends beyond borders. Mayors in New York, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere say resources are being squeezed by the influx of immigrants, a situation exacerbated by Republican governors of Florida, Texas and Arizona who have bussed immigrants into those cities. Did.
Large numbers of migrants have crossed the border in recent days, unsure about the possibilities of a post-Title 42 border regime or driven by smugglers, but after the measures are lifted , more people are expected to seek entry, knowing that they will not be returned to Mexico anytime soon. I bet they won’t catch them if they turn themselves in, or if overworked border guards run away.
Those captured enter the already congested border processing system in many places. In the Rio Grande Valley, where border guards can accommodate his 4,600 migrants, officials reported he had 6,000 detained as of May 4, about two-thirds of them from Venezuela. bottom. A college baseball field in Brownsville, Texas has been turned into a makeshift processing center.
Republicans are poised to use the scene to accuse Mr. Biden and Democrats of failing to secure the border and step up their political attacks. This week, House Republicans are poised to vote on legislation that would restore aggressive Trump-era immigration policies that Democrats have long denounced as cruel. Republicans are also moving toward impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas as a way to dramatize their accusations.
Last month, Rep. Mark E. Greene of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told donors that Mr. Mayorkas’ “negligence of duty and exposing his willful destruction of our country.” “Let’s get some popcorn,” he said for a hearing aimed at . open the southern border. ”
“It’s going to be fun,” Mr. Green told the room.
But some of the fiercest criticism of Mr. Biden has come from left-wing supporters, who say they are deeply disappointed with the measures taken by the administration to limit the number of immigrants it accepts. A new rule requiring migrants to apply for asylum in the countries they transit en route to the United States would illegally deny many even the chance to apply for asylum in the United States, they say. It claims more immigrants can now legally apply without risking the dangerous passage of the United States.
ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said his organization will immediately go to court to block the new rule. New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez said aggressive options do not address broader factors driving people to migrate.
“The administration is going down the rabbit hole that the only way to meet this challenge is law enforcement and that it won’t solve the problem,” he said.
Eleanor Acer, director of the refugee protection program at Human Rights First, was relieved that Trump-era pandemic restrictions at the border were coming to an end. Yes, and completely counterproductive.”
Once the deportation measures end, some immigrants face lengthy detentions, formal deportations, and bans from entering the United States. But making these decisions requires authorities to process migrants one by one, a cumbersome task that requires detaining large numbers of people for days in already overwhelmed facilities.
Last week, more than 20,000 immigrants were detained in the United States for one day, doubling capacity. In El Paso, about 5,000 immigrants were held in processing facilities designed for less than half the population.
“We’re gearing up for the unknown now. It’s unclear how many people will be here,” El Paso Mayor Oscar Reeser told reporters on Thursday.
“Federal immigration laws have been broken and weren’t broken in this or the previous administration,” he added. “We have to figure out where we’re going. There’s no light at the end of the tunnel.”
El Paso County has opened a large center where 1,200 immigrants released from U.S. custody each day can help arrange their next trip. Non-profit shelters are already full. The city is vacant, he is preparing to open two schools, and can even install cots in the civic center.
But many border workers say no amount of preparation is enough.
“We’ve been holding back this wave, and it’s going to crash,” said Ruben Garcia, director of Annunciation House, a large, fully-occupied shelter. Of course, until many people come across from the build-up in Mexico.
International Rescue Commission staff recently advised migrants who gathered for a free lunch at the Ciudad Juárez Cathedral to use a mobile application rather than risk their lives crossing or climbing the Rio Grande. Advised to use to make an appointment at the US port of entry. wall.
But the app, introduced by the Biden administration in February to bring some order to the border, has so far offered a very limited number of reservations and has been plagued with technical glitches. .
Frustration with the app, combined with fear of being stranded in a violent Mexican border city, has led to a surge in numbers in recent days as migrants were targeted for extortion last month, with 40 of them burning to death in detention facilities. People are trying to cross the border. big risk.
In El Paso, many of those lingering on the sidewalk outside the Sacred Heart Church climbed through gaps in the concertina wire that fringed the riverbank, scaled the 30-foot-high steel border wall, and under the cover of darkness crossed into the United States. It is said that he dodged the agent of They showed me an arm with a cut and a swollen ankle to prove it.
They did not turn up and were not processed by U.S. authorities, making them ineligible to stay in most shelters or receive assistance from city or county facilities.
“This app is a joke. I was just exiled.
Like him, the majority of the church were Venezuelans. With little or no money, many said they were hoping they could somehow help with transportation to where they planned to make a fresh start.
“We don’t want anything from the US government,” said Daniel, 28. He asked that his last name be withheld because, like others, he had sneaked into the country without formalities. “We just want to work.”
Eileen Sullivan Contributed to reporting from Washington.
