Refugees and Border Patrol: A State of the Art Revised and Implications for the United States-Mexico Refugee Program

Once they are resettled, the refugees can petition for their immediate relatives to join them in the United States by providing DNA or other evidence of their relationship. The relative would be interviewed at the embassy by a U.S. official before being approved for travel.

But millions of people are being admitted into the United States outside the traditional refugee program, diverting resources from those who have been waiting for years.

Much attention has been paid to migrants crossing the border in record numbers, in part because of decisions by Republican-led states like Florida and Texas to send some of them to liberal bastions like Martha’s Vineyard as a way to provoke outrage.

The new rule, released last month, bars migrants who traveled through other countries on their way to the US-Mexico border from applying for asylum in the United States.

In early January, the Biden administration expanded a humanitarian parole program to include Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Cubans to provide a legal pathway for them to enter the US instead of crossing the border. The administration also made those nationalities eligible for Title 42, meaning they can now be turned away by authorities if they don’t apply for the program.

During a February hearing, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan said that the Biden administration did not have operational control of the border. Over the course of the month, we have set records for migrants coming into the country and I think it is intentional.

The six-pillar plan was released in the spring, and has since been updated, according to a document obtained by CNN. It includes scaling up ground and air transportation capabilities to transport migrants for processing and remove them, leaning on a CBP One mobile application to process asylum seekers, and increasing referrals for prosecutions for repeat border crossers, the document said.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich – who took the lead for the states – said Monday that “getting rid of Title 42 will recklessly and needlessly endanger more Americans and migrants by exacerbating the catastrophe that is occurring at our southern border,” adding: “Unlawful crossings are estimated to surge from 7,000 per day to as many as 18,000.”

According to the document, the surge of resources to the southern border includes the hiring of nearly 1,000 Border Patrol processing coordinators and adding 2,500 contractors and personnel from government agencies – which allows federal agents to focus on field law enforcement duties.

The federal government has increased Customs and Border Protection holding capacity by more than one-third by adding 10 soft-sided facilities. The agency says it has more than doubled the transportation capacity for migrants.

“This includes hundreds of flights and bus routes per week to transport detained noncitizens to less crowded Border Patrol sectors for processing and to remove or return noncitizens to their home or third countries; we will continue to scale up our ground and air transportation capabilities in light of potential increases,” the document states.

According to the six-pillar plan, CBP spends 30% less time processing migrants now compared to early last year – which will help mitigate overcrowding of CBP facilities.

“For noncitizens seeking to evade apprehension, repeat offenders, and those engaging in smuggling efforts, we are increasing referrals for prosecutions,” the plan states.

The Department of Homeland Security plans to continue targeting criminal organizations who smuggle migrants and work with non governmental agencies on the border.

The End of the Trump Era: A Brief Brief Briefing on the Biden White House and the Inter-Border Security Status of the Border

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called President Joe Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Clain, with concerns regarding a border proposal reminiscent of the Trump era.

The call that came in from the White House, one of many that have come in, was indicative of the precarious position for Biden as officials try to keep Republicans from attacking the administration over the border and appease Democrats who are concerned about asylum seekers being refused entry to the US.

Since March 2020, authorities have been able to quickly expel travelers who violate the rules at the border, but that will no longer be the case when the authority is terminated.

The year-end legislative sprint currently underway has Schumer and Klain speaking frequently and often. The emergence of the border issue in discussion gives a window into a complex policy and political moment.

Schumer, a New York Democrat who has long pressed the administration to terminate Title 42, is far from alone. People familiar with the situation said that the administration received a steady stream of calls from lawmakers as well as state and local officials expressing differing views on the merits of the authority. The calls were all concerned about what the end of Title 42 will mean for the border in the next few weeks.

It’s a dynamic that has played out as the Biden administration intensively prepares for a moment officials have long grappled with how to navigate. To some degree, it’s the latest phase of an effort that has long been underway, with officials keenly aware since the opening days in office that at some point the pandemic-era policy would come to an end. Increased levels of resources and personnel have been directed to key entry points, with further announcements expected in the days ahead.

Asked about concerns inside the administration about the potential for a surge at the border once Title 42 goes away, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre listed off a series of personnel, processing and infrastructure efforts that have been put into place.

Jean-Pierre told reporters at the White House briefing that they would do the work, prepare and make sure the process was humane.

The Problem of the 2022 Mexican-American Border War: What Congress Needs to Publish, File, and Re-Purpose

Still, the cross-cutting viewpoints on border policy have converged with the significant diplomatic component tied to managing a rapid shift in the countries of origin of the migrants apprehended at the border, one that has added a new layer of difficulty for the administration.

Throughout, administration officials have stressed that the only viable long-term solution will come from congressional action, noting encouragement with a bipartisan framework released in the Senate last week.

In the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Congress did not approve of the political tradeoffs and goodwill required for a reform. A last-ditch effort by Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and newly independent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema that would have led to the protections of Dreamers and new measures to halt border crossings in this Congress just fizzled.

The framework was unlikely to build traction during the brief sessions that were held after the election.

US border authorities encountered migrants more than 2.3 million times along the US-Mexico border in fiscal year 2022, according to US Customs and Border Protection data. More than 1 million people were turned away at the border.

The White House has been talking to DHS about planning, sources told CNN. The National Security Council has been involved in the management of migration across the Western hemisphere.

The team has been working hard to ensure that the process for renewing title 42 is orderly and humane. And we believe in doing so, we can protect our security concerns,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday.

Now once again officials say they’re preparing for the policy to end. But they’re also appealing the federal judge’s recent ruling, arguing that public health restrictions limiting migration are legal.

There have been hours long meetings daily to prepare for temporary facilities in El Paso and discuss ways to return non-Mexican migrants to Mexico after they are deported, according to two Homeland Security officials.

In it, the DHS stressed the need for Congress to make sure that statutes are up to date and that the current asylum system works.

On the 21st it will be a disaster. When Title 42 is set to end on December 21 there are so many things that need to be done but aren’t ready.

The Challenge of Migration and Asymmetries During the Biden Administration: Mayorkas’s Statement on the Border Security, Customs and Border Protection

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas underscored the whole of government approach in a statement, noting that mass movement of people around the globe has posed a uniquely difficult challenge.

“Despite our efforts, our outdated immigration system is under strain; that is true at the federal level, as well as for state, local, NGO, and community partners. In the absence of congressional action to reform the immigration and asylum systems, a significant increase in migrant encounters will strain our system even further,” he said.

“Addressing this challenge will take time and additional resources, and we need the partnership of Congress, state and local officials, NGOs, and communities to do so,” he added.

“I don’t know why they keep avoiding the border and saying there’s other things more important than visiting the border,” he said. “If there’s a crisis, show up. Just show up.”

El Paso city officials said Tuesday they’re monitoring the situation and are in ongoing discussions with federal, state, and local partners. In El Paso on Tuesday, Mayorkas met with the Customs and Border Protection workforce as well as local officials.

The Biden administration is also asking Congress for more than $3 billion as it prepares for the end of Title 42, according to a source familiar with the ask.

The White House said the order gave Republicans in Congress time to solve the challenge at the border by passing comprehensive reform measures, and delivered additional funds for border security that President Biden requested.

The city of the 28th District in Texas, represented by congressman Emanuel Cuellar, told CNN that they are closely watching the situation, and that if nonprofits can’t keep up with the influx of migrants, they may bus them to other locations.

It was the latest sign that a broken Washington can’t fix one of America’s most intractable problems – a failure that repeatedly leads to situations like the one that will unfold at the border next week.

Even some Democrats are warning that an huge influx of immigrants next week could cause multiple adverse consequences. Critics say the administration took too long to engage on the issue and hasn’t done enough, though they also fault Congress for failing for decades to reform the immigration system and border enforcement – a goal that polls repeatedly show the public supports.

The Loss of the Border Police: a Call to Address the Democrat-Biennial War on Drugs in the U.S.

“We have a leak,” Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez said on “CNN This Morning” Thursday. “We need a plumber to come and stop the leak. And instead, what we’re doing is we’re sending us more buckets to hold the water.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom meanwhile told ABC News this week that the expiry of the policy known as Title 42 could overburden his state’s capacity to cope. He said that the current situation is not working and that it will break in a post-Title 42 world if we do not take responsibility and ownership.

Monaco told CBS News she was concerned about an increase in illegal migration. Some Democratic jurisdictions, like New York City for instance are already struggling to cope with immigrants who have already arrived as they brace for more.

The Supreme Court’s order blocking a lower court opinion from ending the authority is a win for Republican-led states. The Biden administration had put in place precautions to make sure there was no confusion when the authority ended and had prepared for a potential surge of migrants.

Republican lawmakers have argued that Mayorkas claims of having control over the border are false and that the record of arrests is proof of a failure of duty.

Republicans are right to highlight the epidemic of deaths from fentanyl in the United States that is coming across the border from Mexico often using precursor chemicals from China. But they also spent four years indulging Trump’s obsession with a border wall that does little to stem the influx of the narcotics that mostly comes through border checkpoints, concealed in vehicles by drugs cartels.

The American Civil Liberties Union argues that Congress should not intervene in an Emergency Motion to End Title 42 Immigration in the Western Hemisphere

“We are deeply disappointed for all the desperate asylum seekers who will continue to suffer because of Title 42, but we will continue fighting to eventually end the policy,” Gelernt said.

Vice President Harris was assigned by Biden to address the root causes of immigration from the Western Hemisphere. Her task is difficult considering the corruption, instability and tensions between nations likeHondth, Honduras, Venezuela and the United States, as well as the troubled relations between Mexico and Washington.

The only permanent solution to border issues would involve a huge investment in securing the frontier, with barriers where they make sense, and new tracking technology and manpower if walls don’t help. It would address the plight of undocumented migrants brought to the US as children who are known as Dreamers. It would provide a path to legal status for millions more migrant workers and would reform the system of legal immigration and visas for migrant workers needed to address economically damaging labor shortages in agriculture and Catering industries.

The governors of the 19 GOP states tried to stop the judge from implementing his order in an emergency motion.

They wrote that the “inordinate and unexplained untimeliness” of the states’ request to get involved in the case “weighs decisively against intervention.”

The case is a lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union, representing several migrants brought In January 2021 challenging the program. The appeals court noted that the Republican-led states knew that their interest in keeping the policy was different than the administration’s approach to the case.

The DC Circuit stated that differing interests in preserving Title 42 were the only reasons States could intervene for the first time on appeal. They didn’t give an explanation for why they waited eight to fourteen months to intervene.

What is Happening with the Border Rule after Covid-19, and What Does It Mean for the States? An Overview of the Biden Administration

In April 2022, the administration announced plans to end the policy, stating that it was no longer necessary given “current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight Covid-19.”

As the December 21 deadline for Sullivan’s ruling to go into effect approaches, officials have been preparing for a surge of migrants. More than 1 million migrants have been expelled under the rule, which is a public health authority the Trump administration began using at start of the Covid-19 pandemic to expel migrants before they went through the asylum application process.

“The border crisis that Respondents bizarrely and eagerly seek to cause would also inflict enormous harms to the States,” a filing, submitted last Wednesday, reads.

They believe that the increased number of migrants will increase the States law enforcement, education, and healthcare costs.

The Biden administration opposed the states’ attempt to intervene and their request to keep the policy in place, calling the requests untimely and unjustified.

Here’s a look at some of the key questions and answers about the appeals court’s ruling, Title 42’s history, what’s happening on the ground and what could happen next.

The Biden administration is also appealing Sullivan’s ruling, but has said it’s continuing with its preparations to end Title 42 expulsions as ordered on December 21.

Before, D’Agostino said, increases in migrant populations crossing the border were gradual and over a series of months. He said that this time it has been rapid for a few days.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, cast doubt on the border rule’s effectiveness as a public health measure when he told CNN last year “my feeling has always been that focusing on immigrants, expelling them or what have you, is not the solution to an outbreak.”

Debate resurged after Sullivan’s November ruling, and again several weeks later as word spread of the increasing number of migrants crossing in El Paso.

And officials continue to predict that lifting Title 42 is likely to spur a significant increase in the number of migrants trying to cross into the US.

Earlier this year, the policy drew attention when authorities at first were using it to turn away Ukrainians at the border, then largely started granting exceptions that allowed thousands of Ukrainians seeking refuge to cross.

Many migrants from Central America and Haiti were turned back because of the double racist standard, according to advocates. Federal officials denied that accusation and said each exemption is granted on a case-by-case basis.

Many advocates expected President Biden would lift the order as soon as he took office, given his campaign promises to build a more humane immigration system. Instead, his administration extended the policy more than a year into his presidency and defended it for months in court.

The court asked the Biden administration to respond by Tuesday since it wants to act quickly.

The brief order from Roberts means the policy that allows officials to swiftly expel migrants at the US border will stay in effect at least until the justices decide the emergency application. The order does not necessarily reflect the final outcome of the case.

The states had raced to the Supreme Court earlier in the day in an emergency bid to keep in place a Trump-era immigration policy that is set to go off the books Wednesday.

The justices were told in the papers that they should put the lower court ruling on hold. As an alternative, he said that the justices should grant an “immediate” temporary injunction to maintain the status quo and also consider whether to skip over the appeals court and agree to hear arguments on the merits of the issue themselves.

Failure to grant a stay here will hurt the States very much as they bear many of the consequences of illegal immigration.

In the case at hand, six families that unlawfully crossed the US-Mexico border and were subject to the Title 42 process brought the original challenge.

According to court papers obtained by the ACLU, Covid-19 had always been a ruse to increase immigration control. “There is no legal basis to use a purported public health measure to displace the immigration laws long after any public health justification has lapsed.”

The White House press secretary said earlier on Monday that the US would enforce its immigration laws no matter how long the rule is in place.

Inside the White House, the pause on the termination will not have any effect on what have been intensive behind-the-scenes preparations for the end of the authority, according to a White House official.

The Importance of Title 42 for the Protection of Public Health: Progress Towards a Resolution of the Louisiana Immigration Case in Light of the Late End of the Biden Reduction Act

In April of this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the Title 42 restrictions were no longer necessary to protect public health and moved to terminate the policy.

But that effort was blocked by a federal judge in Louisiana, in a separate case brought by a group of Republican attorneys general. They argued that the CDC did not go through the proper procedures to end Title 42, and should have considered the impact on state health care systems and other costs.

Since then, immigration authorities have continued to enforce the policy for single adults and some families, expelling migrants well over two million times since Biden took office.

White House and Department of Homeland Security officials have had multiple meetings in recent days to discuss the possibility of reviving the practice ahead of the anticipated expiration of Title 42 in May and as migrant border crossings remain high.

Border officials across the US-Mexico border were on regular phone calls over the weekend preparing for the anticipated end of Title 42 and have been working with the Mexican government to try to stem the flow, the official added.

In the Del Rio sector, for example, officials predicted that the number of migrant encounters could double from 1,700 a day to 3,500 a day when Title 42 ends, straining overwhelmed resources in a remote area of the border.

One official said policy discussions are still underway to provide other legal pathways to Nicaraguans, Haitians and Cubans who make up a large number of encounters.

“I think there’s some that probably haven’t gotten the message and won’t until they cross,” the official said. Some people who are committed will cross.

Are Homeland Security Forces in El Paso? An Attorney General and a Newly Created Emergency Fund to Provide Relief for Asylum-Seeking Cities

ACNN has been told by non-profit organizers in the area that migrants from Venezuela and Haiti are living on the streets, in abandoned homes and on sidewalks, with mothers of hungry and sick children.

The release states that four C-130Js are expediting the movement of Soldiers and equipment to El Paso as part of Governor’s enhanced border security effort. “The force of more than 400 personnel will be mission ready in El Paso Monday afternoon.”

Sgt. Jason Archer with the Texas Military Department Public Affairs told CNN “the wire that’s being placed is temporary” and will be up for an “undetermined amount of time.” Archer said it was placed “to support law enforcement” and was not done in conjunction with US Border Patrol.

The National Guard generally serves in a support role and notifies US Border Patrol if they encounter migrants, so that agents can pick them up. Soldiers were assigned to monitor for activity along the border in Del Rio last year as humvees were stationed at observation points.

After the Texas National Guard increased its posture along the border, Democratic El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego lamented the guard’s construction of fencing and barbed wire at the border.

My concerns are becoming a reality and that is not their role. I am confident that it wasn’t coordinated with Border Patrol. The county judge told CNN that he has always insisted that any aid from the state is part of their overall strategy and in lockstep with their own.

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams said his administration is monitoring the potential surge along the southern border in response to Title 42’s end and how Roberts’ temporary pause may impact New York City.

New York City is expected to get a substantial chunk of a newly created $800 million pot in federal aid that’s aimed at providing relief to cities that have been overwhelmed by asylum seekers, a source close to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told CNN. The extra funding is expected to be included in the omnibus spending bill that Congress must pass before the end of the year.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Food and Shelter Humanitarian program reimburses cities that provide food, shelter, transportation, basic health and other needs to asylum seekers. Schumer negotiated an increase to the EFSH pot from the original $150 million to the now $800 million despite GOP opposition, the source said.

A U.S. Attorney’s Report on the Title 42 Border Health Explanation in Arizona and the High-Energy Case

The court was asked to delay the ending of Title 42 until December 27 due to preparations for an influx of migrants and the upcoming holiday weekend.

The administration said that the states, led by Arizona, do not have the legal right to challenge a federal district court opinion that had vacated the program and ordered its termination by Wednesday.

The parties involved in the case were asked to weigh in on Monday by Chief Justice John Roberts.

The last-minute legal wrangling comes as federal officials and border communities have been bracing for an expected increase in migrant arrivals as early as this week as the issue of immigration continues to ignite both sides of the political divide. The Department of Homeland Security has been putting in place a plan for the end of the program that includes surging resources to the border, targeting smugglers and working with international partners.

In court papers Tuesday, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar stressed that it would be highly unusual for the court to allow the states to step in at the last minute when they had not been an official party in the dispute at hand.

“The government in no way seeks to minimize the seriousness of that problem. Prelogar wrote in a filing with the Supreme Court that the solution to immigration can’t be to extend the public-health measure for more than a year.

A lawyer for the families said in a letter that the record shows the horrors being visited on non-US citizens by Title 42 expulsions.

Just across the border from El Paso in Ciudad Juarez, CNN’s David Culver has spoken with migrants who spent weeks traveling hundreds of miles, often on foot, and are now confused as they hope for asylum in the US.

The El Paso Border Crisis is Not a COVID Crisis: High Court Rules Proposed to Enforcing a State of Emergency

The Supreme Court agreed to decide in February whether 19 states that oppose the policy should be allowed to intervene in defense.

In a dissenting opinion, conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that the “current border crisis is not a COVID crisis. Courts should not be involved in making administrative directives only because elected officials haven’t addressed a different emergency. We are not policymakers of last resort.

It’s a victory for Republican attorneys general who asked the court to keep the restrictions in place, not because of a public health emergency, but because they say removing the restrictions would likely cause a surge of illegal immigration.

In El Paso, the daily arrivals are dropping, but shelters are at capacity. A state of emergency has been declared by the mayor after hundreds of migrants ended up on the streets.

The court agreed to take up the states’ appeal this term. The court will hear arguments on the case in February 2024.

The application was denied but it was not explained by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch also dissented and explained his thinking in an order joined by liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

What do we have to do to stop people from entering the country, and what can we do to prevent them from leaving the United States? Mr. Biden, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Secretary of State

“In the meantime, my administration will continue to use that authority as the Supreme Court has required,” he said. “And until Congress passes the funds, a comprehensive immigration plan to fix the system completely, my administration is going to work to make the situation at the border better using the tools that we have available to us now.”

“The court is not going to decide until June apparently, and in the meantime we have to enforce it – but I think it’s overdue,” Biden told reporters on the White House South Lawn.

Elizabeth Prelogar, the Solicitor General, told the Supreme Court last week that it would be difficult to return to the Covidera rules but that they were no longer necessary.

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union explained in their arguments how dangerous it can be for people who are asylum seekers to go back to Mexico.

In fact, Mr. Miller on multiple occasions tried to use Title 42 even before the pandemic during outbreaks of mumps at detention facilities in six states and again when border stations were hit with the flu. He was talked down by cabinet secretaries and attorneys in most instances.

The idea that immigrants carry infections into the country echoes a racist notion with a long history in the United States that associates minorities with disease.

“It’s not a permanent policy. It was never meant to be. It’s one of only a few things we have left that can stop more people from reentering.

Joe Biden’s Revocation of Title 42 Did Not Involve the States in Creating a Process to End the Immigration Problem,” says Brnovich

The law requires notice to and comments from those affected by an action, and President joe Biden didn’t do that in his revocation of Title 42.

“We as the states tried to intervene to protect our interest, and the Biden administration disagreed, saying the states didn’t have an interest,” he said. I think the cost of health care, the cost of incarceration and the costs of lost lives were some of the events of the last two years.

According to a constitutional legal perspective, I think the answer is that the states are impacted. The federal government shouldn’t do its job, so the states should be allowed to intervene.

Brnovich said that people from all over the world are crossing the southern border, and that “they will tell you that, ‘Hey, we’ve heard that Joe Biden’s not prosecuted anybody and people can stay here.’ The reality is that is what’s happening.

“I understand why people want to come to this country, but I also believe there has to be a process,” Brnovich said. Canada and Australia have immigration systems that are based on merits and points. Australia will allow people to come in and become citizens if they need more nurses or gardeners. I think there are other systems out there that we can look at that don’t create chaos.

Aggressively enforce existing law is what you have to do first. He told them to gain control of the southern border. You can begin having a discussion once you do that.

He pointed to then-President Obama’s surge to deal with a migrant influx at the southern border in 2014. “They aggressively sent judges and federal prosecutors to our southern border to aggressively prosecute entry and reentry cases. They were able to stop the flow of immigration even during the Obama administration.

That comment was startling because it came minutes after his administration announced a program that effectively expands the controversial public health restrictions yet again.

Title 42, Biden’s Visit to the Border, and Implications for the Asymmetries Reform, and in the Presence of Detention and Deportation

Biden’s assertion Thursday that he doesn’t like Title 42 came in response to a reporter’s question about why it’s taken him so long to visit the border (His scheduled visit to El Paso Sunday will be the first of his presidency).

During Biden’s presidency, people with criminal histories no longer make up the majority of ICE arrests. Instead, immigrants without any known criminal convictions made up a bulk of the arrests — tripling in size compared to fiscal year 2021. The agency said it was a result of its agents helping Customs and Border Protection officers process migrants during a record surge of apprehensions.

ICE also carried out more than 72,000 deportations — a slight increase from fiscal year 2021, when numbers dipped to a historic low since the agency’s creation in 2003.

The agency said its workload had increased due to a surge of migrants fleeing Central and South America to seek refuge in the US.

For much of the Biden administration, ICE agents have largely focused on arresting and deporting people with criminal histories — a sharp contrast to the Trump administration, which had empowered the agency to detain anyone unauthorized to live in the U.S.

Similar to fiscal year 2021, the U.S. reported over a million expulsions this past fiscal year — indicating Title 42’s strong foothold on the southern border despite the Biden administration’s efforts to wind down the restrictions.

Mayorkas walked Latino senators through the regulation, according to the source, but it didn’t appear to ease concerns. The asylum rule violates President Joe Bidens promise to restore asylum, argued immigrant advocates on Tuesday.

Biden’s Visit to the U.S.-Mexico Border: The First Congressional Hearing of an Impeachment Resolution

The criticism from the same groups that fiercely opposed Mr. Trump’s policies has infuriated Mr. Biden and his aides, who say the comparison is unfair and wrong.

The National Security Council takes a different view on illegal immigration, said John F. Kirby, a top spokesman.

The White House pointed out that several mayors who have had trouble with the influx of migrants into their cities, including the leaders of San Antonio, Chicago, Washington and New York, praised Mr. Biden’s proposals last week.

President Biden is visiting the U.S.-Mexico border for the first time as president on Sunday, stopping in El Paso, Texas, on his way to Mexico. The visit comes after two years of back-and-forth with Republicans over the Biden administration’s immigration policy.

The US has since begun sending migrants from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to Mexico under Title 42 and opened a separate program that allows migrants of those nationalities and Haiti to apply to legally come to the United States. Thousands of migrants have already applied.

“People come to America for a whole lot of different reasons,” Biden said during a Jan. 5 speech announcing the new immigration policies. In what is the strongest economy in the world, we must seek new opportunities. Can’t blame them wanting to do it. They fled oppression to the freest nation in the world. They pursue their own American Dream in the greatest nation in the world.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has sent many of the buses, hand-delivered a letter to Biden during his visit. The governor has been one of the most vocal critics of the Biden administration’s immigration policy.

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives used their first hearing of the new Congress to zero in on what they call a crisis at the southern U.S. border.

The chairman of the committee held two hearings about the Biden administration’s handling of the border. Earlier this month, the House Judiciary Committee, which would have jurisdiction over an impeachment resolution, held its first border-related hearing.

House Republicans and Border Patrol: Why aren’t Border Patrol Agents so Frustrated? “The Case for a Crime Scene is Almost Into the Desert,” Rep. Andy Biggs

Republicans sought to portray the surge in migrants as a threat to communities across the country, while Democrats accused them of fear-mongering and spreading misinformation.

“It is open. The border is dangerous,” said Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican from Arizona. “Drugs pour across, international terrorists, criminal gang members, people from all over the world.”

The Biden administration disputes that the border is open, and argues that its recent enforcement measures have led to a drop in the number of illegal border crossings in recent weeks.

“The Biden administration actually expelled over 1.1 million people last year. And recently expanded the use of Title 42, much to the concern of many of us on the committee,” said the committee’s ranking member, Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, who described the hearing as “political theater.”

The committee heard testimony from Brandon Dunn, whose 15-year-old son died of fentanyl poisoning last year. Dunn and his wife co-founded a nonprofit group called Forever 15 to spread awareness about fentanyl poisoning.

Large numbers of migrants crossing the border are distraction for Border Patrol agents, that’s what Republicans say.

Two law enforcement officials in border communities talked to the committee about the current situation.

The border is the worst it has been, said the sheriff of Cochise County. He says his resources are stretched thin trying to help Border Patrol agents catch migrants who try to sneak through the desert.

“The morale of agents is extremely low, and the collective frustration is very high amongst law enforcement at all levels,” Dannels said. “This is the largest crime scene in this country.”

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/01/1153565559/border-house-republicans-hearing-jordan-mexico

Reply to Speaker of the House Homeland Security Committee on ‘An American Dream with a Broken Immigration System’ by El Paso Mayor Alejandro Mayorkas

The committee was also told by the El Paso County Judge who described a completely different scenario. “There is no open border in El Paso,” Samaniego said, explaining that migrants there routinely turn themselves in to Border Patrol for processing in an orderly fashion.

Samaniego testified that local officials and nonprofits have been working closely with Border Patrol and other immigration authorities for years and have developed a strategy to deal with big numbers of migrants in the U.S.

The Republicans on the committee suggested that the Biden administration was encouraging people to cross the border illegally. Rep. Roy of Texas went even further, invoking the word “invasion” to describe the flow of migrants across the border.

Critics have linked that term to the so-called Replacement Theory, the false conspiracy theory that Democrats are deliberately trying to replace white Americans with immigrants of color for political gain.

Migrants are not in our community. Nor are there hordes of immigrants committing crimes against citizens or causing havoc in our community,” Samaniego said. “Claiming this perpetuates a false racist narrative.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pointed the finger back at Congress to fix the country’s broken immigration system and maintained that he will not resign from his post in an new interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace.

Mayorkas said on “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” on CNN that he won’t resign.

Ahead of potential proceedings, the Department of Homeland Security is bringing on a private law firm to help with potential impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas.

New Border Reform is Not the Right Thing to End: Mayorkas argues that the United States has never been safer than the Mexican border

Mayorkas said that it would not be a good thing if people weren’t illegally crossing the border. By that measure, the border has never been secure, right?”

He added: “What our goal is – to achieve operational control of the border, to do everything that we can to support our personnel with the resources, the technology, the policies that really advance the security of the border, and do not come at the cost of the values of our country. And I say that, I say that, because in the prior administration, policies were promulgated, were passed, that did not hew to the values that we hold dear.”

The new 153-page proposed regulation, which could affect tens of thousands of people, is the most restrictive of a patchwork of policies put in place by the Biden administration to try and manage the US-Mexico border and is reminiscent of a Trump-era policy.

The proposed rule would encourage migrants to avail themselves of safe, orderly pathways into the United States or other countries where they may apply for political asylum in order to reduce their reliance on human smugglers.

There are some exceptions to the rule, but it would apply to migrants who cross the border illegally. The rule doesn’t apply to children from other countries.

An administration official told reporters that this was not a first preference, but that the onus is on Congress to pass reform.

Administration officials on Tuesday rejected the comparison to the Trump administration, saying that it’s not a categorical ban on asylum and emphasizing efforts to expand access to legal pathways to the US, including a recently launched parole program for certain nationalities.

The proposed rule is expected to be placed in the Federal Register for a period of 30 days and may take effect in May, when a border restriction known as Title 42 is set to expire. The rule is also expected to last for two years.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has previously voiced frustration with the administration over new border policies and lack of engagement. On Tuesday, House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, and Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee ranking member Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, slammed the move.

Migrant Safety and Security at the Interior Department: Review of Possible Option for Family Detention at the Southern Border, Ms. Luis Miranda

The Administration is looking at multiple options for taking care of migrant families at the southern border, not all of which involve family detention, said an official.

The administration was warned by an official that it would follow the court settlement that sets a 20-day limit for detaining families instead of holding them for weeks or months. Another option would be continuing the practice in place now — releasing families into the country, where they would be tracked and required to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, the official said.

“The administration will continue to prioritize safe, orderly and humane processing of migrants,” Luis Miranda, a department spokesman, said in a statement.

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Proponents of family detention argue that it would deter migrant families from making the trip north. The practice has been unpopular because of years of research that shows adolescents can be harmed when they are locked up with their parents.

Two of the federal government’s medical consultants in 2018 said they identified a “high risk of harm” to migrant children at the facilities. A child with a third of his body weight lost and an infant with a bleeding of the brain went undetected after being seen by consultants.