Biden announces new legal pathways and enforcement measures ahead of border visit
Katherine Doyle
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President Joe Biden is expanding legal pathways for migrants from attempting to reach the U.S. from Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua, while ramping up enforcement measures along the southern border.
The announcement comes ahead of Biden’s visit to the Mexican border on Sunday for the first time in his presidency. It follows a surge in illegal apprehensions since the Democrat took office.
The measures extend an asylum process that admits Venezuelan nationals with a U.S. sponsor into the country to migrants from Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua, admitting up to 30,000 migrants from these countries each month, a senior administration official told reporters Thursday.
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Officials credited the program for Venezuelans, implemented in October, with a 90% reduction in the number of encounters of Venezuelan migrants at the border.
At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security will rapidly expel to Mexico any Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan nationals attempting to reach the U.S. illegally. Migrants returned to Mexico and those who cross unlawfully into Panama or Mexico en route to the U.S. will become ineligible for asylum under the new rules.
While the Title 42 health authority has allowed border agents to rapidly expel hundreds of thousands of migrants from the region without hearing an asylum request, the Biden administration has sought to eliminate its use. Attempted arrivals are expected to swell once the Trump-era policy ends.
“The message is clear. Those who are interested in migrating to the United States should stay where they are and apply for this rapid new process,” another senior official said.
The official said the administration is also targeting long processing wait times for those seeking a legal pathway to the U.S., surging personnel to, including asylum officers and immigration judges to drive down wait times, as well as law enforcement and administrators.
The Biden administration will also expand support for border and other cities strained by migrant arrivals and for non-governmental groups.
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On Sunday, Biden will meet with local officials in El Paso, where he will call for Congress to advance immigration reform and fund a budget request that would surge resources to DHS.