Tag: Migrant

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The Political Calculations Behind DeSantis’s Migrant Flights North

The Political Calculations Behind DeSantis’s Migrant Flights North

Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, this week surpassed his Texas counterpart Greg Abbott by sending two planeloads of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts — the culmination of a months-long campaign to troll essentially liberal cities and states by displacing many asylum seekers into these communities.

The airlift, a DeSantis spokeswoman said in a statement, “was part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to places of refuge.”

She added, “States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals whom they have invited to our country by encouraging illegal immigration through their designation as ‘protected states’ and supporting the policies of the create an open border for the Biden administration.”

Of course, there is no such “open border”. Many of these migrants apply US asylum laws, which give them the opportunity for a court hearing to determine whether they are eligible to remain in the United States, as thousands did during the Trump administration and the Obama administration before that. And in most cases, they were arrested by federal law enforcement officers or turned themselves in so DeSantis was able to put them on planes in the first place.

“Playing politics with people’s lives is what governors like George Wallace did during segregation,” said Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat. “Ron DeSantis is trying to earn George Wallace’s legacy.” Moulton was referring to the “Reverse Freedom Rides” of 1962, when segregationists made false promises of jobs and housing to entice black Southerners to move north. Moulton, who briefly ran for president in 2020, generally accused Republicans of using immigration as “political football.”

The deeper problem is this: Congress has spent decades failing to revise the country’s immigration laws, which both parties recognize are utterly inconsistent with what is happening along the US-Mexico border. They differ greatly only in the proposed remedies.

But the political calculations for DeSantis and Abbott are pretty straightforward. Immigration is a powerful motivational issue for Republican-based voters, nationally, and particularly in border states like Arizona and Texas.

My colleague Astead Herndon discusses this topic on the latest episode of his podcast, The Run-Up. It’s a deep dive on the 10th anniversary of the so-called Republican autopsy of the 2012 election, in which GOP insiders called for a complete rethink of their party’s strategy on immigration and Latino voters.

As DeSantis surely knows — and he’s by all accounts a shrewd politician who tuned his ear to the GOP base’s id — Donald Trump basically did the opposite of what that autopsy recommended. During his 2016 presidential bid and long after, he made frequent and aggressive political use of Latino migrants, labeling many of them “criminals” and “rapists” during his presidential announcement at Trump Tower.

And DeSantis, who is likely to roll for re-election in the fall, is busy amassing an impressive war chest for purposes that remain both obscure and obvious. For months he’s been quietly courting Trump donors on the pretense of including her in his campaign for governor, while making sure never to stick his head too far over the parapet — lest Trump tries to steal him from his proverbial ones to slap shoulders.

Rick Tyler, a former adviser to Senator Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign, said the DeSantis flights to Martha’s Vineyard were “maybe” smart politics in the context of a Republican primary, but he added, “I find it cynical to use real people as political.” Stunt figures for positioning in a presidential chess game.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre slammed the Texas and Florida governors for deliberately trying to create “chaos and confusion” in a way that was “disrespectful of humanity.” She said Fox News was notified in advance, but the White House was not.

“It’s a political ploy,” she said. “That’s what we’re seeing from governors, especially Republican governors. It’s a cruel, inhumane way of treating people who are fleeing Communism, people who are – and we’re not just talking about people, we’re talking about children, we’re talking about families.”

A report in The Vineyard Gazette, a local newspaper, reports how the migrants arrived on the island and were greeted by “a coalition of emergency management officials, faith groups, nonprofit organizations and county and city officials” who organized food and shelter for the new arrivals.

Other Democrat-run enclaves like Washington, DC and New York City have asked the federal government for help processing and housing the thousands of migrants that DeSantis and Abbott have theatrically foisted on them. Last week, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency for the nearly 10,000 migrants busted there from Texas. Eric Adams, her counterpart in New York, said Wednesday that the city’s emergency shelter system “is nearing breaking point.”

On Thursday morning, two buses dropped off a group of 101 migrants outside Vice President Kamala Harris’ home – a poisoned political chalice sent by Abbott, who tweeted, “We’re sending migrants into their backyard to ask the Biden administration to do its job.” & secure the border.”

How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times employees are allowed to vote, they are not allowed to endorse candidates or campaign for political causes. This includes attending marches or rallies in support of a movement, or donating or raising funds for political candidates or electoral causes.

As an indicator of how strongly Republicans believe this issue is among their constituents, even Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a relatively dovish man who has taken a stand against Trump over his bogus stolen election claims in 2020, is now chiming in. Ducey, who rejected strong pressure from Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, to run for the Senate, is said to harbor presidential ambitions of his own.

The Massachusetts press described DeSantis’ move as a challenge to Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican whose future plans remain in flux. Baker, a moderate Northeast in the mold of previous Bay State GOP governors like Mitt Romney and Bill Weld, would have little hope of a presidential primary against DeSantis or, for that matter, Trump.

Trolling is a novel political tactic. But the general phenomenon of migrant distribution around the country is not entirely new, as my colleague Zolan Kanno-Youngs has written. As the Obama administration faced a tide of unaccompanied minors flooding facilities along the border in places like McAllen, Texas, the Department of Health and Human Services housed thousands of the children in cities across the country.

And after the protest movement in Syria turned into a vicious civil war in 2011, many Republican governors began opposing the housing of refugees in their states.

Trump also seized on this issue, calling for “a total and complete ban on the entry of Muslims into the United States until our country’s officials can figure out what’s going on” — and then attempted to implement that policy in one of his first steps as president .

Gil Kerlikowske, a former Customs and Border Protection Commissioner in the Obama administration, woke up Thursday morning to find border officials following him to his home on Martha’s Vineyard.

Kerlikowske learned that migrants had been dropped off on the island when he went to the barber’s on Thursday morning and overheard people asking why the United States was unable to secure the Southwest border.

He reminded other customers that even during the George W. Bush administration, thousands of migrants crossed the border.

“It just shows the ignorance of DeSantis,” Kerlikowske said, advising the governor to pressure members of Florida’s congressional delegation to pass new immigration laws instead. “If he wanted to highlight where the problem is, he should have sent her home to Marco Rubio and Rick Scott.”

President Biden has been pushed back from his left because some stakeholders say he is continuing Trump’s immigration policies. On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union criticized Biden after a Reuters report revealed the government had asked Mexico to take in more migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela as part of a policy introduced during the coronavirus pandemic.

Christina Pushaw, a DeSantis campaign spokeswoman, said, “The governor has spoken publicly for months about transporting illegal migrants to sanctuaries.” She pointed out that in this year’s state budget, DeSantis received $12 million from the Florida Legislature for the transfers had requested.

“But what we didn’t know in the campaign was that the goal was going to be Martha’s Vineyard or that it was going to happen yesterday,” Pushaw said. “We learned that from media reports.”

Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Peter Baker contributed coverage.

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Fewer Migrant Kids Arriving Alone at US Border, Knowledge Reveals

Fewer Migrant Children Arriving Alone at US Border, Data Shows

The number of migrant children and teenagers arriving alone at the United States border with Mexico decreased last month compared to a month earlier, according to newly released Customs and Border Protection data.

There was a slight increase in the number of border crossings, encounters and apprehensions overall during the same time period, a sign that the record surge of migrants trying to get into the country this spring could be starting to stabilize.

But the problem is far from over for the Biden administration, which is currently trying to safely place more than 16,000 migrant children in government custody with family members living in the United States. The administration on Monday threatened to sue the state of Texas if Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, follows through with his threat to shut down more than 50 shelters in the state where thousands of migrant children have been living.

Mr. Abbott’s action, which was part of a disaster order issued at the end of last month, was seen by many as a deliberate swipe at the Biden administration’s more compassionate posture on immigration compared to the restrictive measures of the Trump administration.

It is typical for the number of migrants traveling to the United States through the southern border to increase during spring months, but this year the turnout has been much higher, with a nearly 50 percent increase in border crossings, encounters and apprehensions in March, April and May compared to a similar surge over the same period in 2019.

Republicans have seized on the surge along the southern border, calling it a crisis — a term the Biden administration has avoided.

Most of the adult migrants who have been arriving at the southern border this year have been barred from entering the country because of a public health rule put in place during the Trump administration, which is responsible for more than 463,000 expulsions on the southern border between January and May of this year.

While the last administration also barred children for public health reasons, the Biden administration has been allowing migrant children to enter the country and stay in shelters overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services until they can be placed with a family member or other sponsor. Since the beginning of the year, more than 65,000 migrant children and teenagers arrived alone on the southern border, with record numbers arriving during the spring months. Nearly 2,900 fewer migrant children arrived alone at the southern border in May compared to a month earlier.

Because of a shortage of shelter space at the federal government’s network of state-licensed facilities earlier this year, migrant children were forced to stay in overcrowded holding cells along the southern border long past the legal limit. Earlier this year, the Biden administration moved to set up about a dozen emergency shelters where the children could stay in Health and Human Services custody until they are placed with a family member or sponsor inside the United States.

Recently, migrant children and teenagers have been staying in H.H.S. custody for an average of 37 days, according to government statistics. Children’s advocates have said ideally a child would not have to stay more than 20 days in a government shelter.

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Politics

Democrats Quieter About Migrant Kids Detention

Democrats Quieter About Migrant Children Detention

“The good news is that they listened,” Representative Sylvia R. Garcia, Democrat of Texas, said of officials at Health and Human Services. Ms. Garcia, a former social worker, said she saw red flags at the Houston shelter, a repurposed warehouse, before it even opened. The plan was to house about 500 girls between the ages of 13 and 17. Ms. Garcia said the facility did not have enough bathrooms and there was no clear space for the children to eat or for recreation.

“They were concerned about the kids. They were concerned about their care — every single one of them,” Ms. Garcia said of the officials she spoke with. The shelter opened on April 1 and closed on April 17. “They were not going to put children at risk.”

Ms. Escobar, whose district includes the largest emergency shelter in the Health and Human Services network, at Fort Bliss, said she raised concerns about conditions early on. And on a visit there on Friday, she said she saw significant improvements over six weeks ago.

But, she said, “there are still things that are not acceptable to me.”

For one, the staff could not answer some of Ms. Escobar’s questions, such as how long children were staying there. She said children told her they had been there for 48 days. “That’s unacceptable,” she said.

Ms. Escobar also said the shelter was too big and should be broken into multiple shelters on the Fort Bliss campus. She said she raised this concern about “mega-sites” with Xavier Becerra, the secretary of health and human services, on a recent call with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Mr. Castro said he shared Ms. Escobar’s concerns, though he dismissed worries about the size of the shelter and said, during a call with reporters on Monday, there had to be a plan for how to house these children when they arrive at the border.

He also said that the conditions at the emergency facilities were not only better than those at the border facilities, “but it’s better than what these kids were experiencing before they were in the hands” of border agents.

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Politics

‘Important’ Migrant Farmworkers Threat An infection and Deportation

‘Essential’ Migrant Farmworkers Risk Infection and Deportation

Food and farm workers in California are more likely to die of Covid-19 than any other industry. But while other industries were closing, the agriculture business continued, relying on a largely undocumented workforce that the federal government identified as essential. “California’s Covid-19 vaccination effort has begun.” “Proponents of farm workers say their turn should be next for vaccines for national food security reasons.” As early as January, Riverside County began its first large-scale vaccination measures for farm workers. However, the challenges showed how marginalized this community has become. “Vaccinating Illegal Migrants About the American People.” “Put Americans first. Put Americans first. “Now the plight of these workers is driving Congress to implement important immigration reforms. At stake is a path to citizenship for approximately one million undocumented workers across the country. “Farm workers were on the front line. You deserve the opportunity to take steps toward legal status. “The promise of amnesty for those who are already here illegally encourages more foreigners to come illegally.” This is usually an inspection point on a grape and date farm. When Riverside County distributed their first vaccines to farm workers, they brought them here. “Today we vaccinate farm workers. We supply 250 vaccines. But it’s a very large community, about 20,000 to 30,000 farm workers. And to achieve herd immunity, we have to vaccinate at least 70 percent of our population. Known for Palm Springs and world-class golf courses, Riverside County is also home to the agricultural region of the Eastern Coachella Valley, where the Covid positivity rate hit nearly 40 percent in December. “We know that they are in close contact with other people. And so we know that the transmission possibilities are really great. But it was really amazing. My job is to keep our community healthy. If someone gets Covid-19, whether it is undocumented or not, they can pass it on to the community like any other person. “But while prioritizing farm workers on paper is one thing, actually getting shots in the arms is another. “Your access to resources is not there. Right, there isn’t a lot of public transport or doctors or clinics in the area. “In order to reach these workers, the county had to go to their employers. “Hey Brett, really, really good news for you. Friday, vaccinations for your employees. ” “No way!” Janell Percy is the executive director of the Coachella Valley Growers Association. Recently, she has been a de facto county health agency, coordinating vaccination clinics through her network of local farm owners. “This process was very challenging. There were so many strangers. You know, I’m used to working with plants more than people, I guess. So I got you for 25 right? “” Ah yes. “” You know, everyone is concerned. I’ve told everyone to just be patient. Could be weeks. It could be months. At this point I don’t know. “But not everyone is on Janells List. Smaller farms like this one may not pay into the association. Many workers track seasonal crops from farm to farm, and some use borrowed social security numbers with employers. These workers may not even be aware of the county’s mobile vaccination efforts. Hence, has The county also rely on community organizations to reach people more directly. Luz Gallegos leads one of these groups. She grew up here, herself the child of undocumented farm workers. “We have told the community that your health should always come first and prevention is key. And if you are not alive you will never see a green card. But we can Do not condemn the community for not trusting the government. “” Farm workers have always been important, but they were never treated as such. ” There are an estimated 800,000 farm workers in California alone. Nationwide, the number is between two and three million. “As we approach high season we will have to accelerate exponentially to vaccinate farm workers or we will see many more die of Covid-19.” Alberto and Marina have lived with a fear of ICE and arrest since they came here. It’s an experience Marina knows firsthand. She was caught crossing the border three years ago. “Basic workers shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not they will see their children at the end of the day, whether or not they will be deported.” Raul Ruiz grew up in these fields. He became a doctor, then ran for Congress and won. He is now in his home district teaching farm workers about the vaccine. For Dr. Getting the vaccine to farm workers is not enough for Ruiz. In March he helped bring the Farm Workers Modernization Act into the house. The law would provide protection and a path to legalization for undocumented farm workers. “They literally die from feeding you. We need to protect and secure our food supply chain. If there is a moment to instill empathy and understanding to protect them from separation from their families, it is now. “It will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis on the border.” “The road to citizenship as a reward for violating our laws.” The law was passed with the support of both parties, but there will be an uphill battle in the Senate. Meanwhile, other states are joining California and starting vaccinating farm workers. They realize that the only way out of the pandemic is for everyone to take turns.

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World News

Migrant Households at U.S.-Mexico Border Deported by Shock

Migrant Families at U.S.-Mexico Border Deported by Surprise

When 149 migrants were taken to a bridge by US border guards, they had no idea where they were being taken. Many broke down crying when they learned they were back in Mexico.

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico – They arrived in groups of 30, children dangling from adults’ arms, and were escorted across the Paso del Norte bridge by United States border guards on Thursday afternoon until they reached halfway point. Then they were handed over to the Mexican authorities.

“Where are we?” A father asked a journalist at the New York Times.

“Ciudad Juarez” came the answer.

The father, who had not been told where he and the rest of the migrant group were being taken by US officials, looked confused.

“Mexico,” the journalist clarified.

Faces twisted from confusion to fear. Many of the parents began to sob and tears of frustration fell on the children who cradled them.

“You betrayed us!” yelled one parent.

“They promised they would help us!” another moaned.

Most of the 149 migrants brought across the bridge on Thursday had entered the United States from Reynosa, a border town in northern Mexico, where they were arrested by US border guards. They were then flown 600 miles to El Paso, Texas, where they were put on buses, driven to the border, and walked to the bridge.

No one was informed that they were being sent back to Mexico.

As they crossed the bridge that connected El Paso to Ciudad Juarez, they realized that everything they had risked on their journey – their lives, the well-being of their children, the loans they had bankrupted themselves – was for them to take up smuggling the United States – fell apart.

Below, Elvin Bautista Pérez (26) from Honduras and his daughter Mía (5) are trying to text his family after the deportation.

Vilma Iris Peraza, 28, struggled to carry Erick, her 2-year-old, pantless, in a dirty diaper, and her daughter Adriana, 5.

Adriana was standing in a pool of vomit on top of the bridge when Mexican officers surrounded her. The braids that Mrs. Peraza had so diligently woven into her daughter’s hair were a frizzy mess. The mother wanted her daughter to look her best for her new life in America.

Mrs. Peraza tried to comfort Adriana and gave her a sip of water when Erick wiggled in her arms. Eventually she collapsed on the bridge, hugged her children and cried.

“We couldn’t get through my dear,” Ms. Peraza told her husband on the phone when she was finally able to connect. “Here in Mexico we all cry. I don’t know what we’re gonna do. “

The family from Copán, Honduras, had tried days earlier to reunite with Ms. Peraza’s husband in Nashville. They have been a family divided since he left to work in Tennessee two years ago. The smugglers had billed them $ 12,000 to cross – the equivalent of nearly three years’ salary in Honduras – and they no longer minded huddled on the bridge.

“I just want to reconnect with my husband to give our children a better future,” said Ms. Peraza. “There is a lot of poverty in my country, nothing can be done.”

Above, US Customs and Border Protection officers escort migrants back to Mexico at the border crossing in Ciudad Juarez.

It had taken many of the migrants a month or more to complete the dangerous migration from Central America to the United States.

The dangerous journey was worth it, many had argued, as long as they could settle in America. They did not want to leave their homes, but their countries were broken under corrupt governments that neglected them and allowed gangs to rule the streets.

Now they were in Mexico with bad options: give up everything and return home or try to cross illegally again. Both decisions left them at the mercy of the Mexican criminal networks.

Another migrant asked a Times journalist about the situation in Juarez, one of Mexico’s most dangerous border towns.

“How is this town?” he asked. “Is it safe to go out?”

Migrants are loaded into vans to be taken to emergency shelters in Juárez.

Elvin Bautista Pérez, 26, clutched his daughter as he tried to get a reception on his phone to share the disappointing news with family members.

He and Mía, 5, had left their home in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in January for the United States.

Mr Bautista said he never wanted to be an immigrant, never wanted to leave his family to learn a new language and new customs. He had found a way to live with the poverty and corruption that had plagued Honduras since childhood. But then, within a few weeks, two powerful hurricanes hit Honduras, leaving him unemployed and homeless in November.

“They deceived us because they never told us in the US that they would deport us,” said Bautista.

Mrs. Peraza downstairs with her children.

Mexican officials led the migrants from the bridge to their offices, where they were registered and said they would be taken to emergency shelters pending deportation home.

But the shelters were for those whose limits of despair had been reached. Among the crowd of migrants, there were still the hopeful, those who did not run out of money or who were determined to try again to cross. Instead of filling out the government forms, they slipped out of the chaotic offices onto the streets of Juarez.

A yellow sports car and a family appeared out of nowhere was led to the back seat. They had called their coyote or people smuggler to pick them up at government offices. As soon as everyone was packed into the car – as conspicuous as the coyotes are bold – the family sped off to try the dangerous crossing again.

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Biden Administration Directs FEMA to Assist Shelter Migrant Youngsters

Biden Administration Directs FEMA to Help Shelter Migrant Children

WASHINGTON – Biden’s government is instructing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help process an increasing number of children and teenagers who have occupied detention centers on the southwest border as the treatment of young migrants has come under increasing criticism.

FEMA, which usually provides financial assistance during natural disasters, will help find shelters and provide “food, water and basic health care” to thousands of young migrants, said Michael Hart, a spokesman for the agency, in a statement.

The government also urged Homeland Security officials to volunteer to “look after and assist unaccompanied minors” held in border prisons run by Customs and Border Guard.

Previous administrations also sent FEMA to help migrants cross borders. However, the Biden administration cannot use disaster relief to assist in processing migrants in Texas after crossing the border without the consent of Republican Greg Abbott. The states must apply to the federal government for funding.

A spokeswoman for the governor did not immediately respond to questions about whether he would apply.

More than 3,700 young people were in customs and border protection facilities this week, more than the around 2,600 children and young people who were detained in such detention centers in June 2019. Troy Miller, the acting commissioner for customs and border protection, said last week that 9,457 children, including teenagers, were detained at the border without parents in February, up from more than 5,800 in January.

The Biden government has so far failed to process the young migrants quickly and move them to emergency shelters managed by the Department of Health and Human Services, where they will be held until the government matches them with a sponsor. The administration has made efforts to expand the capacity of these shelters, which have held around 8,500 migrants this week. The Biden government recently ordered shelters to return the children to normal capacity despite the coronavirus pandemic.

“A border guard is not a place for a child,” said Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security minister, in a statement on Saturday. “Our goal is to have unaccompanied children brought to HHS as soon as possible.”

Mr Abbott and other Republicans have characterized the rise in border crossings as a direct result of Mr Biden’s aim to roll back President Donald J. Trump’s restrictive immigration policies. But Mr Biden has maintained a pandemic-pandemic emergency rule that allows border officials to quickly turn away migrants at the border, with the exception of unaccompanied minors.

“They express surprise and shock at the fact that they are overwhelmed when the Border Patrol and everyone here in Texas knew this was coming,” Abbott said.

Updated

March 14, 2021, 5:06 p.m. ET

New York Republican Representative John Katko said if FEMA was involved, “by definition, it is a disaster.”

“I have serious concerns that this will strain an already tight FEMA workforce and budget,” he said, “with an ongoing pandemic and Atlantic hurricane season in less than three months.”

The spate of crossroads increases the pressure in a divisive political struggle that has also faced the last three governments.

Mr Biden’s critics have moved swiftly in recent days to blame him for the surge in arrivals which they say jeopardize the security, economic recovery and health of the country as the coronavirus pandemic continues Thousands of lives claimed.

Many of them seem eager to draw attention from the president’s handling of the pandemic and his publicly well-received $ 1.9 trillion stimulus plan on an issue that unites the Republican Party as opposed to Democrats could.

The spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi described the influx of migrants, especially children, on Sunday as “a humanitarian challenge for all of us”. But she was determined to blame Mr Trump and his policies, as well as the longstanding unrest in Central America that had driven waves of migrants north.

“What the administration has inherited is a broken system on the border, and they are working to correct that in the interests of the children,” she said in “This Week” on ABC.

Representative Veronica Escobar, Democrat of Texas, who also referred to the Trump administration, said she found the situation “unacceptable” at a processing facility she visited in El Paso on Friday.

Nicholas Fandos and Chris Cameron contributed to the coverage.

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Politics

Dealing with Stress, Biden Administration Scrambles to Shelter Migrant Kids

Facing Pressure, Biden Administration Scrambles to Shelter Migrant Children

Republicans refer to the situation as a crisis causing Mr. Biden and signal a goal of using his immigration agenda as a political weapon against him in 2022. California representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, plans to take other Republicans on a trip to the border to highlight the problem. Republican James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, called the surge in migration a signal “to the world that our immigration laws can be violated with little or no consequence” on Wednesday.

However, Mr Biden has continued to apply a Trump-era rule to quickly turn away most migrants at the border, with the exception of unaccompanied minors. The government last week ordered shelters to return the children to normal capacity despite the coronavirus pandemic.

To find extra space for the kids, the Biden government is considering moving them to disused school buildings, military bases, and even on NASA’s Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, California. This emerges from a memo from the Times. The NASA site would “remain unoccupied but would be available for use when HHS urgently needs additional shelter,” the memo said.

Darryl Waller, a NASA spokesman, confirmed in a statement that the government is considering moving migrant children to “currently vacant lots” on the site. “These efforts will not affect NASA’s ability to conduct its main missions,” he said.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr Biden advocated a more humane approach to border immigration, with priority investing in Central America to prevent illegal immigration. But it has resulted in those who have fled poverty and persecution and see a better chance of entering the United States than they did under the Trump administration.

“One of the things I think is important is that we’ve seen waves before,” said Ms. Jacobson. “Surges tend to respond to hope. And there was great hope for a more humane policy. “

Part of the Obama administration’s response was to create a program to allow Central American children to seek protection from their home countries.

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Politics

Mexican Regulation Halts U.S. From Turning Again Some Migrant Households

Mexican Law Halts U.S. From Turning Back Some Migrant Families

WASHINGTON – A Mexican law prevented the United States from quickly turning away immigrant families on one of the busiest stretches of the southwest border and forced agents to resume releasing families into the country, according to three government officials from Biden.

The Trump administration began rejecting migrants entering the US in March, citing the coronavirus threat, and the emergency rule effectively sealed the border from asylum seekers. Due to a law that Mexico passed in November banning the detention of immigrant children and families, the country has stopped accepting such families from South Texas, an area normally prone to illegal crossings.

The recent postponement has alerted Homeland Security officials and poses an immediate challenge to the Biden government. Homeland Security officials said the emergency rule was necessary to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in detention centers along the border, even if it prevented vulnerable families from hearing their asylum applications. In recent weeks, increasing numbers of families have been held in such facilities in the Rio Grande Valley and Del Rio, Texas.

Stephanie Malin, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman, said due to pandemic precautions and social distancing guidelines, some facilities have reached full “safe holding capacity”.

“CBP takes the safety and wellbeing of its workforce and those they encounter very seriously and we are taking even more precautions due to Covid-19,” said Ms. Malin. “As always, the number of people crossing the border continues to fluctuate and we are adjusting accordingly.” She said the agency is working with organizations in the community to release migrants into the public domain.

The United States has turned back more than 390,000 migrants to Mexico or their home countries since March. The ruling reduced the number of migrants detained on the U.S. side of the border, but it also put Central American families in trouble when they learned that their children had been taken to Mexico, in violation of international treaties. And while politics was a crucial part of the Trump administration’s attempts to close the border to migrants, the rule also had the unintended effect of giving migrants more chances of illegal entry.

Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 73,000 crossings in December, up from more than 40,000 in July. Agents arrested more than 40,000 migrants in December 2019.

Mexican law, which went into effect in January, doesn’t apply to the entire border. American border officials still reject single adults, and so do families in places like Arizona, officials said. It is unclear how the law will affect other parts of the border.

A State Department spokesman in Mexico declined to comment on whether it had stopped accepting migrant families, saying only that the United States continued to have the pandemic emergency rule.

However, Biden’s administration was unable to return migrant families to Reynosa, Mexico, a change first reported by the Washington Post. The relocation has raised concerns among Customs and Border Protection about a possible increase in family crossings into the neighboring Rio Grande Valley. Border crossings in recent years have been fueled mainly by Central American families fleeing persecution, violence and poverty.

The Department of Homeland Security is currently building a tent complex in Donna, Texas to house migrants. However, an administrative official said this was not related to the law in Mexico. Customs and Border Guard said in November it would close the main McAllen detention center for renovations.

President Biden campaigned for asylum restoration on the southwestern border and this week signed an executive order directing the government to roll back President Donald J. Trump’s restrictive policies.

The new government has not publicly announced when the pandemic emergency rule will be lifted. After a federal judge in the District of Columbia lifted a blockade on the rule that prevented the United States from turning away unaccompanied migrant children, the White House said it would use its own discretion to decide when to apply the policy.

Mr Biden said in December that his administration would take a cautious approach to reversing Trump-era policies to avoid a surge on the border.

His immigration plan was to rely more on programs that migrants follow after their release to the United States to ensure they appear before immigration tribunals, rather than on their detention.

Mexico, for its part, praised the fact that it had imposed restrictions on those detained.

“Mexico is taking a crucial step towards ending child detention and we are encouraged by this promising development,” said Gillian Triggs, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

While top Trump administration officials argued their emergency rule was just an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Mr Trump’s White House attempted to use the policy to advance its goals of curbing illegal immigration.

Kirk Semple contributed to coverage from Mexico City.

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Migrant Caravan, Now in Guatemala, May Pose Early Check for Biden

Migrant Caravan, Now in Guatemala, Could Pose Early Test for Biden

Thousands of migrants from Honduras have entered Guatemala and are planning to travel further north to the United States. This could represent an early test of the immigration policy of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has pledged to ease the Trump administration’s asylum restrictions.

After a few hundred people were able to pass the border police on Friday, thousands more followed to Guatemala on Saturday. Officials said between 7,000 and 9,000 people have entered the country, many bypassing coronavirus controls.

The government of Guatemala said it “regrets this violation of national sovereignty and calls on the Central American governments to take action to avoid putting their residents and the communities they roam through in the face of the pandemic.”

Migrants are expected to continue to encounter obstacles on their way. The Guatemalan authorities set up checkpoints, blocked parts of the caravan not far from their entry into Guatemala and were able to take some of the migrants back home by bus, The Associated Press reported.

Mexican authorities have dispatched additional troops and immigration officers along the country’s southern border in anticipation of the caravan.

“In our national territory we must ensure orderly, safe and regular migration, respecting human rights and humanitarian policy,” said Francisco Garduño Yáñez, head of the National Immigration Institute in Mexico, in a statement on Friday.

Members of the group told reporters they were forced to escape the crime, poverty and homelessness exacerbated by the pandemic and two hurricanes late last year.

“We have nothing to feed our children and thousands of us have slept on the street,” Maria Jesus Paz, mother of four, told Reuters. She said her family lost their homes in the storms and forced her to flee.

“That’s why we’re making this decision, knowing that the trip could cost us our lives,” she added.

The successive hurricanes that struck Central America in November “devastated livelihoods in a region already facing economic downturn and where the incomes of thousands of families had already plummeted as a result of the pandemic,” according to the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Saturday.

The Trump administration has made a number of agreements with Mexico and Central American countries to prevent migrants from reaching the United States. Mark Morgan, the acting commissioner for customs and border protection, said Saturday that Guatemala is continuing to enforce this agreement.

“Guatemala continues to support the regional alliance committed to safe, orderly and legal migration and the protection of public health during the global pandemic,” Morgan said on Twitter. Guatemala’s immigration service “is already returning caravan members to Honduras after illegally entering Guatemala.”

During the presidential campaign, Mr Biden said he would act quickly to lift the Trump administration’s stricter asylum restrictions, which disqualified people not seeking refuge on their way to the United States and forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico.

On his first day in office, Mr. Biden plans to ask Congress for a major overhaul of immigration laws. This proposal, which will be released Wednesday, includes a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants now living in the United States, assistance to damaged Central American economies, and plans to help people escape violence.