Joe Biden, facing the worst immigration crisis in the United States in 20 years

WASHINGTON.- US heading for one of the country’s worst southern border crises in 20 years because of new wave of migrants arriving from Mexico and Central America, including minors traveling alone, a known and repeated reality that has now put Joe Biden’s government on the ropes, and forced him to work against the clock in the middle of the coronavirus to deal with the flood of foreigners under criticism from Republicans.

The line separating Mexico from the United States, one of the hottest regions in the country and the epicenter of an eternal struggle over the world’s leading power’s immigration policy, typically sees an increase in arrival migrants during the northern spring months. , before the summer heat which increases the risk of the procession through the desert. Since October, the federal government has detained nearly 400,000 migrants, and month after month arrests at the border have exceeded those of recent years..

The arrival at the White House of Joe biden, What promised a much more flexible immigration policy than Trump’s and said the country would reopen its doors to refugees, triggered a new peak in migration from countries plagued by poverty, drug-related violence, natural disasters and, now, the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are meeting more people on the southwest border than in the past 20 years”, recognized yesterday the Secretary of Internal Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, in a detailed statement on the crisis. “This is nothing new. We experienced a sudden increase in migration in 2019, 2014 and also before, ”he said.

Although the new wave of migrants started to take shape with the coronavirus pandemic, in April of the previous year, under the Trump presidency, Republicans blamed Biden and the turnaround he imposed on the White House for the new influx of foreigners, in a sort of justification for the “zero tolerance” strategy. and the strong militarization of the border imposed by Trump, two policies much appreciated by his supporters. Democrats have responded to criticism with accusations of negligence by Trump and his administration, renewing the political struggle in Washington over the country’s immigration policy.

“This crisis was created by the presidential policy of this new administration. There’s no other way to call it a Biden border crisis. “said the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.

Mayorkas said most of the foreigners who arrive in the country are adults who are then deported to Mexico, in the case of people from Central America, according to current legislation. The same goes for families. The Biden government has repeatedly asked foreigners to refrain from traveling to the United States for the time being, until the government reforms entry protocols.

“Now is not the time to reach the United States border. The procedures for entering the United States will not change overnight, and travel is especially dangerous now in the midst of a pandemic»He said at the end of January Roberta Jacobson, Special Assistant to the President and Southwest Border Coordinator. Jacobson repeated the same request a few days ago from the White House.

Biden has ended deportations of minors who come to the country alone. Until mid-March, authorities were keeping around 4,200 children in custody at border facilities which Mayorkas himself said were already “overcrowded”. Border authorities must transfer the child to the Ministry of Health within 72 hours of arrest. The federal government is then responsible for finding parents or acquaintances of the children.

Mayorkas also said the federal government is developing “additional safe and legal routes for children and others to reach the United States.”, and that Washington work on an official program for refugees across the region, with Mexico, the Northern Triangle countries and international organizations to establish treatment centers in those countries so that people can seek asylum before to head north.