President Joe Biden advises immigrants planning to come to the United States to stay home. But since Donald Trump left the White House, the number of immigrants arriving across the border into Mexico has increased. Does a new political crisis threaten Biden here?
Biden has a more generous immigration policy than his predecessor, Trump. This increases the number of immigrants wishing to cross the border from Mexico. The total number is now greater than it was at the same time in the past three years and is growing faster. This also applies to the number of unaccompanied children: in January and February about fifteen thousand children were detained without parents. Last year there were a total of 37,000.
Officially, the Biden government does not advise immigrants to come to the United States. Families and individuals may be repatriated, except for unaccompanied children. This happens, according to the news agency Reuters In about 15 percent of cases.
Meanwhile, the US Border Police has released thousands of families to make way for detention centers in recent weeks. They are awaiting the hearing, but no date has been set to bring them to immigration court. Also last weekend, a $ 86 million contract was announced to house immigrant families in hotels while they await trial. The plan is an alternative to federal detention centers.
Contradictory border policies lead to confusion and criticism
The inconsistency in Biden’s border policy creates confusion among immigrants. Republican criticism is that the policy is sending mixed signals and encouraging more people to cross the border, while border facilities are overcrowded amid the pandemic.
Former President Donald Trump took a whirl when footage emerged of detention centers near the border with Mexico, where children were in metal cages and sleeping under blankets of foil. President Biden promised to get better. But on Monday, March 22, the first photos emerged from a detention center since Trump’s departure, showing a similar situation. The photos were taken by Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas. Journalists are not accepted.
“More work is needed to address this growing humanitarian crisis. These migrant children need our help now. Not later,” Cuellar wrote on Twitter on Monday.
When it comes to immigrant families, there is “a lot of confusion because there is no set rule,” Charlene DeCruz, director of the Border Rights Program, told the news agency. Reuters. “It looks like it’s custom.”
