(CNN) — US President Joe Biden It was announced on Thursday 30,000 will expand the acceptance scheme Immigrants His administration is dealing with a surge of migrants along the southern border, with plans to expel as many migrants as possible from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela a month from those countries that evade U.S. laws.
The White House also announced plans for Biden to travel to the southern U.S. border on Sunday, stopping in El Paso, Texas, to meet with local officials and address border security issues. This is his first stop at the border since taking office.
In White House remarks on Thursday, Biden called on Congress to pass immigration reform, arguing that its powers to address the growing crisis were limited and that new laws were needed.
National Guard agents protect the banks of the Rio Grande River on the border between El Paso, Texas, U.S., and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, on December 28, 2022. Credit: Herica Martinez/AFP via Getty Images.
The announcements and visit to the border mark an increase in the president’s focus on an issue that is becoming an increasingly political liability for Biden. He has been relentlessly criticized by Republicans and some border district Democrats for failing to address record levels of border crossings.
It comes ahead of Biden’s first visit as president to Mexico, where he will discuss immigration issues with the country’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The Joe Biden administration has leaned on Mexico and other countries in the Western Hemisphere to offer temporary protection to migrants who have fled their home countries.
On Sunday in Texas, Biden will get to the heart of the situation. El Paso began seeing a record influx of immigrants a few weeks ago, as concerns over the planned end of the Trump administration’s pandemic public health law, known as Title 42, led thousands of immigrants to be handed over to police. American border in a very short time.
Title 42 allows immigration officials to quickly deport some immigrants to Mexico. The policy was slated to be scrapped last month, but a Supreme Court ruling kept the move in place while legal challenges emerged in the courts.
Biden’s announcements on Thursday reflect an effort to prepare for the end of the administration Title 42, with the implementation of plans to manage the influx of migrants consistent with the initial conclusion of the operations.
The administration will now accept 30,000 immigrants a month from Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela under a humanitarian parole program targeting those nationalities. Those who do not come to the United States under that program may be deported to Mexico under Title 42.
Officials indicated that 30,000 migrants a month would return to Mexico, bypassing the legal process.
Immigrants from those countries who wish to come to the United States must first apply from their home countries, including a telephone application, before traveling to the United States. They must have an American sponsor and can travel by air if approved.
Hundreds of immigrants are lined up by the US Border Patrol under the Stanton Street Bridge after illegally entering the United States on December 22, 2022 in El Paso, Texas. Credit: ALLISON DINNER /AFP via Getty Images
Government officials have previously blamed the policy for a drop in Venezuelan border crossings after the implementation of Venezuela’s parole program late last year. For months, officials have been considering expanding a plan to manage the flow of migrants along the U.S.’s southern border to other countries, culminating in Thursday’s announcement.
Officials say the ads send the message that immigrants must apply to enter the U.S. before leaving their home countries, and that circumvention of the process will be eliminated.
Additionally, Biden plans to announce new humanitarian aid to Mexico and Central America.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are expected to announce new regulations barring immigrants from applying for asylum at the southern U.S. border if they pass through another country during their journey. The regulation has been described by the administration as a way to encourage immigrants to seek “orderly and legal immigration routes” and reduce overcrowding at the border.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is expected to share details of the administration’s initiatives later Thursday.
