A few months before the US presidential election, incumbent Biden wants to curb irregular migration into the country with a new border regulation. The headwinds are immediately coming from all directions.
US President Joe Biden is tightening the rules for migrants who enter the USA irregularly from Mexico in the middle of the election campaign. “I am doing what the Republicans in Congress are refusing to do: I am taking the necessary steps to secure our border,” the Democrat said on Tuesday in Washington. The White House had previously published a presidential decree stating that those affected should no longer be able to apply for asylum under certain circumstances. Criticism came from both human rights activists and Republicans.
Biden’s decree provides that migrants who cross the border illegally can be deported more easily and at shorter notice if they do not explicitly request asylum. Those who do so will be subject to more stringent screening by border officials and will have to demonstrate, among other things, a “credible fear” of persecution or torture in their home country. They will then be granted protection, but not under the same standards as asylum seekers.
Biden accused former President Donald Trump of torpedoing urgently needed legislation in Congress in order to gain an advantage in the presidential election campaign. “This is an extremely cynical political move and lets down the American people, who expect us not to use the border as a weapon, but to fix it,” said Biden. He would have preferred bipartisan cooperation on corresponding legislation to better staff and finance the responsible authorities. “But the Republicans left me no other choice.” Republicans have been accusing Biden for weeks of having lost control of protecting the southern border in view of the large number of migrants.
Exceptions to Biden’s decree will apply to unaccompanied children and people who are seriously ill, as well as victims of human trafficking and direct threats. All others will be returned either to Mexico or to their respective countries of origin. Previously, most asylum seekers were generally allowed to stay in the country until their court date – which is often years in the future due to overloaded authorities.
The new regulation applies as soon as the average number of illegal border crossings in a week exceeds 2,500 per day. It will be lifted when this number falls below 1,500 again. Because the newly set threshold has currently been exceeded, the measures come into force this Wednesday shortly after midnight (local time).
However, a number of questions about the feasibility of the decree remained unanswered on Tuesday. For example, the US government is relying on Mexico to take in deported people. There are also doubts as to whether the funds currently approved are even sufficient for the additional work of the border guards – Congress would have to release the corresponding federal aid. And the legal ground could also be shaky: the civil rights organization ACLU has already announced that it will file a lawsuit against the decree.
The United Nations stressed the human right to asylum. “Any person who claims to have a well-founded fear of persecution in their country of origin should have access to safe territory and have that claim verified before being deported or expelled,” said spokeswoman Florencia Soto Nino in New York.
The Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, described Biden’s move as a “political stunt” in the race for the White House. The decree does not provide for any new financial resources for border protection or for the deportation of those people who have already entered the US illegally. Johnson also criticized the upper limit for illegal border crossings as a condition for the decree.
The dispute over reform of immigration laws has been simmering in the USA for a long time, but is playing a particularly large role in the American presidential election campaign. The authorities are under pressure. The justice system can hardly keep up with processing asylum applications. There is also a lack of accommodation and other resources for the new arrivals. The Republicans accuse the Democrat Biden of having lost control of the protection of the southern border in view of the large number of migrants. Trump speaks of an “invasion” of the USA.
In his speech on Tuesday, Biden obviously tried to distance himself from the rhetoric of his predecessor. “I will never demonize immigrants,” he stressed. “I will never say they poison the blood of a country. And I will never separate children from their families at the border.”
Mexico is on the route of people fleeing their homeland to the USA because of poverty, violence and political crises. According to the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM), it is the deadliest land migration route in the world. According to the report, a total of 686 people died or disappeared there in 2022 alone. Due to the high temperatures, the US Border Patrol reported an increase in injuries and deaths in the area around the Texas city of El Paso on Monday. Four people died as a result of heat stroke and dehydration.