US authorities fear a draft at the US southern border this week with the scheduled end of a measure taken during the pandemic, which could cause a “chaotic situation for a while”, according to Joe Biden.
Except for a final twist, this device known as “Title 42” must end Thursday at 11:59 p.m. It made it almost impossible to file an asylum application in the United States and allowed migrants to be deported without delay to Mexico in the name of the fight against COVID-19. Joe Biden’s government therefore fears an influx of thousands of migrants.
Asked by reporters Tuesday evening at the White House about the state of preparation of the United States in the face of this regulatory development, Mr. Biden replied: “We will see. »
He had discussed more than an hour in the afternoon with his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “We reaffirmed the agreement to continue working together on issues such as migration with a humanist dimension […] and, above all, on cooperation for the well-being of the poorest populations of our continent”, tweeted the Mexican president.
According to a statement from the White House, the two leaders also agreed to continue their initiative which, “over the past four months, has resulted in a 95% drop in the number of border arrests [américano-mexicaine] of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans”.
In Texas, the municipalities of El Paso, Brownsville and Laredo have declared a state of emergency to streamline the care of the many candidates for exile – mainly from Latin America, but also from China, Russia or from Turkey — already there.
In El Paso, hundreds of people sleep in the streets, protected from the sun by sheets or lying on boxes, while children beg. Mayor Oscar Leeser expects a wave of “12,000 to 15,000 people” at the end of the week: up to 10,000 migrants are waiting in the neighboring Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez, according to a recent count by his services. Others should arrive in the next few days.
Title 42 was activated in 2020 by the administration of ex-President Donald Trump in the name of combating the COVID-19 pandemic. His successor had extended its validity.
The reactivated asylum system
In practice, this measure mainly prevented access to the American asylum system: migrants without visas were turned back without being able to file an application. From Friday, it will be possible again and candidates for exile will be able to have their case processed by the courts, a process that can take several years.
The end of this exceptional device arouses the ire of conservatives, some of whom consider that the United States is now in a “state of siege”. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has announced that he is mobilizing his state’s National Guard to monitor the border.
The file is thorny for Joe Biden, who has just announced his candidacy for a second term in 2024. If the right is suing him for laxity, associations for the defense of migrants accuse him of carrying out a migration policy not so different from that of Donald Trump.
Between a message of humanity and a firm speech, the president delivers a balancing act. His government has decided to send 1,500 additional soldiers to the border with Mexico to support the 2,500 soldiers already assisting the border police.
Hardening of evictions
Washington insists on legal immigration channels. Under the new rules that will apply from Friday, migrants who have entered the United States illegally will indeed be able to apply for asylum, but it will be more difficult for them to prove the merits of their request.
Those rejected will be deported to their country of origin (or to Mexico) and will not be able to file a new application for several years.
But the repeated malfunctions of the system frustrate many asylum seekers, some of whom are simply trying their luck while waiting at the border post.
Tension has risen further in Texas since eight migrants were killed in Brownsville on Sunday by a driver who mowed them down at a bus stop outside a reception center. The suspect, police say, ran a red light and was charged with manslaughter. And another motorist showed up in front of the same center on Monday and showed a handgun to one of the guards, the police said.