DHS and State Department debut plan to screen migrants at outposts in Central and South America
Anna Giaritelli
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The Biden administration has announced plans for transitioning to pre-pandemic border policies and debuted new processes that officials hope will deter thousands of immigrants from journeying to the United States-Mexico border.
Department of Homeland Security and Department of State officials on Thursday unveiled the White House’s new regional migration management measures that enlist South and Central American countries, as well as Spain, to jointly handle the mass migration in the Western Hemisphere that began in 2021 and is expected to grow even more chaotic with the conclusion of Title 42 on May 11.
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As part of this effort, the U.S. has entered into agreements to open regional processing centers in several countries that immigrants most often travel through to get to the U.S. Its first processing centers were set up in Colombia and Guatemala.
“Individuals from the region will be able to make an appointment on their phone to visit the nearest [regional processing center] before traveling, receive an interview with immigration specialists, and if eligible, be processed rapidly for lawful pathways to the United States, Canada, and Spain,” according to a government fact sheet.
Starting May 12, immigrants who do make it to the U.S. and are apprehended by Border Patrol agents after illegally crossing the border will be treated according to Title 8, the previous protocols for handling illegal immigration prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
Immigrants should “generally” expect to be returned to Mexico or their country of origin “in a matter of days,” the fact sheet stated.
Under Title 42, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation that all illegal immigrants be immediately expelled to avoid spreading the virus in Border Patrol facilities, immigrants were not documented as having illegally entered and therefore faced no consequences.
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In the return to Title 8, immigrants will once again go through the full system rather than simply being turned back. This return means Border Patrol could have tens of thousands of immigrants in its custody in the days after the transition because it is not immediately expelling people.
Beyond the border, the Biden administration announced new efforts to prevent people from migrating to the U.S. through new and existing legal pathways.