Immigration: Smugglers spread disinformation at the border. The White House says now is not the time to come.

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White House press secretary Jen Psaki warned on Wednesday that the changes would take time.

“Now is not the time to come,” Psaki said, citing the pandemic and the ongoing efforts to put in place a comprehensive process. “The vast majority of people will be refused. Asylum procedures at the border will not happen immediately, they will take time to implement.”

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In the meantime, there is little clarity on what happens next, leaving the possibility for smugglers to relay their messages.

“Misinformation by smugglers is a problem. They are sellers,” said John Sandweg, a former senior homeland security official under the Obama administration. “The longer these people sit where they are in this purgatory, the more likely it is that these people are going to be attracted to coyotes to run into them,” he added, referring to the smugglers who are sometimes also called “coyotes”. “. “

Rumors take root

Joe Biden began his presidency by signing a series of immigration decrees calling for the overturning of his predecessor’s radical policies. But with no information on when the new policies will take effect, rumors have spread, leaving immigrant advocates and lawyers to run into a billion-dollar smuggling industry.

“Rumors weaken the morale of (lawyers) and migrants,” said Jodi Goodwin, an immigration lawyer who represents clients forced to stay in Mexico.

It is common for smugglers to lie to migrants to sell their services, but years of Trump policies that left thousands of people waiting at the southern border of the United States have resulted in networks operating only miles from the United States. United, according to Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, associate professor at George Mason University who studies migrant smuggling networks. This poses an urgent challenge to the Biden administration.

“More and more you are now seeing specialized migrant smuggling networks operating at the border,” Correa-Cabrera said.

Under the Trump administration, migrants from Central America and other parts of the world who sought asylum at the US-Mexico border were forced to remain in Mexico until their hearings in immigration court in the United States. United States. Many stayed along the border where they were due to attend their hearings.

While it’s unclear exactly how many people are waiting to be admitted along the southern border, there are more than 22,700 pending cases in the courts adjudicating these cases along the border, according to the Robert Strauss Center. for International Security and Law from the University of Texas at Austin which published a report on the program.

There are also migrants along the border who have been turned back under a public health order put in place under Trump that allows for rapid deportation of migrants, as well as recent arrivals, creating a precarious situation along from the border. Migrants can be easily identified based on their accents or clothing and, as a result, fall prey to gangs and corrupt authorities, among others.

With the change of administration came the hope that people who wait months, if not years, could seek and be allowed asylum in the United States.

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During the transition between administrations, officials acknowledged that migrants’ expectations of the Biden administration were likely to be shaped by smugglers, according to a source familiar with the discussions. “The statement made by Susan (Rice) and Jake (Sullivan) in December reflects the knowledge that human smuggling networks were going to prey on people,” the source said.

Rice and Sullivan conducted an interview with a Spanish-language outlet that published in December warning that changes along the US-Mexico border will take time.
The Department of Homeland Security, which had its secretary just a few days ago, has been working around the clock to put in place an orderly process for the admission of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, taking into account coronavirus precautions. This week, Customs and Border Protection announced the opening of a soft-sided facility in Donna, Texas to expand processing capacity.

“ They can literally see the United States ”

As the administration puts processes in place, people across the US border are in despair.

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“We’re not looking at people in Latin America, South America, who think the time is right to migrate. These are people who are already here,” said Taylor Levy, an immigration lawyer. based in California who works with migrants in the south of the country. border. “They are so close they can literally see the United States.”

Levy receives dozens of messages from migrants on a daily basis via Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp in an attempt to get some clarification on the Biden administration’s plans. She also posts videos on Facebook to provide updates on what’s going on at the border, with the warning that she doesn’t work for the U.S. government and therefore has limited information. A video posted earlier this month contained more than 300 comments from people reiterating their hope, expressing frustration or sharing what they had heard on the pitch.
It is not known whether misinformation is leading to increased apprehensions at borders. But a recent change in Mexican law resulting in the release of some migrant families in the United States has created more confusion and frustrated the many who are still waiting after being subjected to Trump-era politics.

“I have no way of explaining why, how or what the next steps are. It gets to the point where people are very frustrated with you, ”said Levy, adding that the smugglers are exploiting the frustration felt by migrants.

Customs and border protection said in a statement that some migrants would be processed to be returned to the United States.

“It has long been a practice that when long-term detention solutions are not possible, some migrants will be treated to be returned, subject to an appearance notice, and released to the United States pending trial. a future hearing on immigration, “the statement said. “As the administration reviews the current immigration process, comparing it to the current pandemic, we will continue to use all current authorities to avoid keeping individuals in an ensemble indefinitely.”

The Biden administration has tried to moderate expectations about how quickly it can reverse the policies of the previous administration, but it can also work against them. In some cases, smugglers will offer their services as a faster way to come to the United States instead of waiting, according to Correa-Cabrera.

“People don’t do this because they think the border is going to open up to them, but because they expect that once they get there, they will be treated with more respect.” , Correa-Cabrera said.

Immigrant advocates and lawyers, meanwhile, are trying to strike a delicate balance between offering hope, while urging patience.

“The problem here is until they figure it out for themselves, what the right strategy is, that void will be filled by others,” said Jennifer Quigley, director of refugee advocacy at Human Rights First.

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