The US border crisis is worsening with a record 12,600 migrants encountered by Customs and Border Protection agents in 24 hours on Monday, according to Fox News.
Images showed a sea of thousands of newly arrived immigrants packed into neat lines as they waited to be processed after crossing illegally into Eagle Pass, Texas.
Many had crossed the Rio Grande, which serves as the border between the United States and Mexico, with plans to request asylum.
The numbers have reached the highest ever recorded since the end of Title 42 measures in May. In August, more than 304,000 immigrants attempted to enter the United States, in September they increased to 341,000 and in October 310,000 were registered.
Border resources are so scarce that road and rail crossings have been closed so that all available agents can be dedicated to processing arriving migrants.
The Biden administration’s plan to control the flow was for migrants to wait in another country until they could get an appointment through the CBP One app, and up to 30,000 people per month were allowed to enter the United States to file applications for asylum.
Hundreds of migrants lined up to be processed outside the Eagle Pass border crossing in Texas on Tuesday. Getty Images Border encounters exceeded 300,000 between August and October. November and December also trend high. New York Post
“Don’t just show up at the border. Stay where you are and file legally from there,” President Biden said in January.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, also stated a month later: “People who arrive at the border without using a legal route will be presumed not to be eligible to receive asylum.”
In practice, that has not been the case and 78% of all those encountered at the southwest border in October (188,778 people) crossed into the country illegally between points of entry.
Most are not being expelled, and the Department of Homeland Security revealed that between May and September they had expelled or returned “more than 300,000 people,” which is equivalent to about 60,000 people per month, less than 30% of those who had been expelled. arrived on American soil. during that time.
Those now arriving at the border are not only those who claim to be fleeing persecution and failed regimes in South America. CBP figures show increases in arrivals from China, India, Russia and Africa.
Monday saw the highest number of daily encounters on the southern border with more than 12,600 in just 24 hours. Getty Images Migrants hold hands asking for support as they cross the Rio Grande into the US. Getty Images
A Moroccan migrant, Oussama, 20, recently told several media outlets how he had stopped being an online gamer in his home country and had tried his luck on the southern border in search of work and better-paying employment, and He told reporters: “I love you Joe Biden, thank you for everything Joe Biden,” once in the United States.
He was processed and allowed into the country, then photographed in New York City days later, where he said he was looking for work.
While authorities cannot stop the flow of people arriving (which increases each year of the Biden presidency, with CBP recording 1.9 million border encounters in fiscal year 2021, 2.8 million in 2022 and 3, 2 million in 2023), the immigration court system is not in condition. nor is it in a position to address them effectively.
In November, the U.S. immigration court reached a historic backlog of more than three million pending cases, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearing House (TRAC).
That number has increased by more than one million cases in a single year, after reaching the two million cases mark for the first time in 2022.
According to TRAC, the current backlog is equivalent to about 4,500 cases for every immigration judge in the court system.
That volume of cases is delaying hearings by many months, meaning that when immigrants first enter the country they are given initial hearing dates years in advance.
A newly arrived migrant baby wrapped in a foil blanket to keep her warm after arriving in the US. Getty Images
Meanwhile, the three million people awaiting their hearings are free to stay and, after six months, work legally until they appear before a judge. This is precisely what draws so many people to the southern border, according to some experts.
“Delay has become the pull factor,” Migration Policy Institute senior researcher Muzaffar Chishti told The Post. “Pull factors are always more important than push factors.”
“Immigrants are intelligent. They know what kind of reception there will be in the United States. And social networks have made it much more powerful.”
Until the asylum system is overhauled and delays reduced, the border problem will not be resolved, Chisti explained.
“If they see that not everyone who applies for asylum gets it, and then people don’t stay for seven years, and in the end there is the possibility of being deported, I think the pattern will change,” he said. “That message has to be sent.”
Politicians on both the left and right have repeatedly expressed outrage that President Biden has not taken more aggressive steps to address the crisis.
There is currently a backlog of 3 million immigration court hearings. Twelve months ago there were 2 million Getty Images
“The crisis at the border is unacceptable. We need the federal government to step up, do its job and bring security and stability to the border,” said Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D).
Earlier this month, Hobbs wrote a letter to Biden requesting National Guard support to reopen the Lukeville border, which has been closed since Dec. 4 to deal with the surge of migrants.
That support was not provided, so Hobbs issued orders herself deploying Arizona National Guard troops to support CBP agents along the Arizona border.
However, the Lukeville border crossing remains closed, as Hobbs does not have the authority to order its opening.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott (R.) signed a bill that went into effect Monday giving the state’s police officers the power to arrest anyone caught entering the country illegally.
“President Biden’s deliberate inaction at the border left Texas to fend for itself,” he said of the action.
People arrested under the law will be able to choose whether to leave the country by order of a judge or face prosecution, jail time and fines of up to $2,000. Repeat offenders will face felony charges.
Migrants from countries outside Latin America, including China, India, Russia and Africa, have been arriving at the border. Getty Images
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D.), who has been trying for months to get federal help for the tens of thousands of immigrants who have overwhelmed the Big Apple’s shelter system, on Tuesday asked New Yorkers to head en masse to Washington to demand financing.
“The source of our discontent is in Washington, DC,” Adams told reporters. “We need to mobilize and mobilize to go to DC and tell the national government that what is happening to New York City is not fair.
Adams has himself gone to Washington 10 times to ask the Biden administration for help in the immigration crisis, which has seen more than 150,000 people pass through New York since the start of the crisis with a price tag expected to reach $12 billion. of dollars. The federal government has allocated only about $150 million to the city.
After his most recent trip to the capital in early December, Adams said, “I didn’t leave with optimism.”
“I left with the cold reality that help will not arrive in the immediate future,” the mayor said.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn