The Biden Administration’s new asylum/border policy was announced on January 5th. [1] That same day President Biden made the following lengthy statement about the new policy.[2]
“On my first day in office . . . I sent Congress a comprehensive piece of legislation that would completely overhaul what has been a broken immigration system for a long time: cracking down on illegal immigration; strengthening legal immigration; and protecting DREAMers, those with temporary protected status, and farmworkers, who all are part of the fabric of our nation.’
“But congressional Republicans have refused to consider my comprehensive plan. And they rejected my recent request for an additional $3.5 billion to secure the border and funds for 2,000 new . . . asylum officers and personnel — and 100 new immigration judges so people don’t have to wait years to get their claims adjudicated, which they have a right to make a claim legally.”
“And the failure to pass and fund this comprehensive plan has increased the challenges that we’re seeing at our southwest border. . . .”
“People come to America for a whole lot of different reasons. To seek new opportunity in what is the strongest economy in the world. Can’t blame them wanting to do it. They flee oppression . . . to the . . . freest nation in the world. They chase their own American Dream in the greatest nation in the world.”
“And the story of America is the story of so many of your families — including mine, going back to the mid-1800s from Ireland.”
“Now, there are a number of ways to immigrate to America legally under our existing laws. For example, an American citizen — an American citizen can sponsor an immediate family member from another country. An American company can sponsor an employee from another country. There are visas for students to study in our colleges and other special categories.”
“And regardless of the legal pathway, . . they process them to require everyone be involved in following the law. That’s the notion. There are laws to get here legally. That includes another legal way for someone to come to America by seeking asylum because they’re fleeing persecution, like a lot of our ancestors did as well.”
“And for many people, that’s what’s happening at our southwest border now.”
“Over the past several years, thousands of people have been fleeing from Central and South America and the Caribbean countries ruled by oppressive dictators — including Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela — and escaping gang violence, which has the same impact, in Haiti.”
“Currently, these four countries account for most of the people traveling into Mexico to start a new life by getting . . .to the American border and trying to cross.”
“But instead of safe and orderly process at the border, we have a patchwork system that simply doesn’t work as it should. We don’t have enough asylum officers or personnel to determine whether people qualify for asylum. . . . {W] don’t have enough . . .immigration judges to adjudicate the claims of immigrants.”
In fact, the previous administration used a rule called Title 42 to deal with . . . the pandemic, . . . to rapidly expel people who crossed the border. It was . . . designed to deal with the pandemic, but it’s used as a means to expel people at the border.”
“People turned away under Title 42, and they are . . . not barred from trying to come back. They’ve been turned away. They go back. They try again. They try again.. . . [T]hey can and they do try to re-enter the United States again and again, which makes the problem . . . at the border even worse.”
And under the [upcoming] United States Supreme Court decision . . . on Title 42 later this year, my administration will . . . make a decision, finally, what to do about Title 42. In the meantime, my administration will continue to use that authority as the Supreme Court has required.”
And until Congress passes the funds — a comprehensive immigration plan to fix the system completely — my administration is going to work to make things better at the border using the tools that we have available to us now.”
“Today, my administration is taking several steps to stiffen enforcement for those who try to come without a legal right to stay, and to put in place a faster process — I emphasize a ‘faster process’ — to decide a claim of asylum. . . .”
“Over the summer, we saw a huge spike in the number of Venezuelans traveling through — through Mexico and attempting to enter the United States without going through our legal processes.”
“We] responded by using and ensuring that there are two safe and lawful ways for someone leaving [their] country to come to America.”
“First, if they’re seeking asylum, they can use an app on their cell phone called CBP One. . . . To schedule an appointment at a port of entry and make their asylum claim there without crossing the border unlawfully and have a decision determined by an asylum officer . . . [whether] they qualify.”
“Second, in October, we worked with the Mexican government to launch a new parole program. . . . The way this parole program works: One must have a lawful sponsor here in the United States who agrees to sponsor you to get here.”
“Then, that person has to . . . undergo rigorous background checks and apply from outside the United States and not cross the border illegally in the meantime.”
“If they apply and their application is approved, they can use the same app, the CBP One app, to present at a port of entry and be able to work in the United States legally for two years. That’s the process.”
“But if their application is denied or if they attempt to cross into the United States unlawfully, they will be returned back to Mexico and will not be eligible for this program after that.”
“If they apply and they do it properly, fine. If they . . . don’t apply and they try to come through, they’re not going to have an opportunity to deal with the program.”
“This new process is orderly, it’s safe, and it’s humane. And it works.”
“Since we created the new program, the number of Venezuelans trying to enter America without going through a legal process has dropped dramatically, from about 1,100 per day to less than 250 per day on average. That’s several hundred people on average every single day who are not crossing into America illegally.”
“Today I’m announcing that my administration is going to expand the parole program for people not only from Venezuela but from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti.”
“Again, these four countries — Venezuela, Cuba and — Cuba and Nicaragua and Haiti — these four countries account for most of the people now traveling into Mexico to try to start a new life by crossing the border into the United States of America on the southwest border.”
“We anticipate this action is going to substantially reduce the number of people attempting . . . to cross our southwest border without going through a legal process.”
“In fact, today I’m announcing that Mexico has agreed to allow [the U.S.]up to re- — to return up to 30,000 persons per month who try, get caught, and get sent back from those four countries who are apprehended while attempting to unlawfully cross the . . . the southwest border.”
“My message is this: If you’re trying to leave Cuba, Nicaragua, or Haiti, . . . or have agreed to begin a journey to America, . . . do not just show up at the border. Stay where you are and apply legally from there.”
“Starting today, if you don’t apply through the legal process, you will not be eligible for this new parole program.”
“Let me reiterate: You need a lawful sponsor in the United States of America. . . And you need to undergo a rigorous background check.”
If your application is approved and you show up at . . . when and where directed, you have access.”
“But if your application is denied or you attempt to cross into the United States unlawfully, you will not be allowed to enter.”
[We] should all recognize that as long as America is the land of freedom and opportunity, people are going to try to come here. And that’s what many of our ancestors did, and it’s no surprise that it’s happening again today.”
“We can’t stop people from making the journey, but we can require them to come here . . .in an orderly way under U.S. law.”
“The actions we’re announcing today will make things better — will make things better but will not fix the border problem completely.”
“That work will not be done unless and until the Congress enacts and funds a more comprehensive immigration plan that I proposed on day one.”
“Last year, I brought together 20 leaders . . .from the Western Hemisphere . . . to stabilize the flow of immigration, to expand pathways to immigration, and to manage . . .”the border humanely.”
“The leaders of the hemisphere have built on those efforts that I led when I was Vice President to expand economic assistance to nations in north Central America so people . . .can improve their economic prospects at home, instead of having to leave for the United States.”
“Most people would much rather stay in the country they are if they can feed their families, be safe, send their kids to school, and have opportunity.”
“It’s not like people are sitting around a table . . . somewhere in Central America and saying, ‘I got a great idea. Let’s sell everything we have. Let’s give it to a coyote, a smuggler. They’ll take us on a harrowing journey for thousands of miles to get to the United States, then we’re going to illegally cross the border. They’re going to drop us in a desert. And we’re — in a place where we don’t speak the language. Won’t that be fun?’”
“ [Vice] President Harris . . . led this effort to make things better in the countries from which they are leaving. And thanks to her leadership, she’s been able to generate more than $3.2 billion from the private sector to create jobs and opportunities in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala to help people stay in their own countries . . . where it’ll be safer and they have some opportunities.”
“We’ve also set up joint patrols and law enforcement with Mexico and Guatemala that share real-time information on locations that smugglers are using to convince migrant groups to cross illegally.”
“We embedded our Border Patrol officers with Mexican patrols to detect . . . and raid human smuggling operations. . . . [T]hus far, there have — more than 7,000 arrests of human smugglers in the last six months. . . .”
“That’s not just human smuggling at the border. We’re focused on cracking down on drug smuggling, which is a serious and deadly . . . problem. . . .”
“My administration has allocated record funding that added hundreds of additional Border Patrol agents and installed new cutting-edge technologies to be able to use . . . like a X-ray machine, detailed to be able to look through these large containers to determine what’s in the container and — at the border.”
“For example, since August of last year, Customs and Border Patrol have seized more than 20,000 pounds of deadly fentanyl. That’s enough to kill — kill as many as 1,000 people in this country.”
“And next week, I’m going to travel to Mexico where I’m going to meet with President López Obrador. We have a big agenda that ranges from the climate crisis to economic development and other issues. But one important part of that agenda is strengthening our border between our nations.”
And I will visit the border myself this Sunday, in El Paso, to assess border enforcement operations, meet with the local officials and community leaders and the folks at the border [telling] me what they need that they don’t have, and make it public what they conclude they need they don’t have to try to convince my Republican colleagues they should do something.”
“And I know that migration is putting a real strain on the borders and on border communities.”
“We’re going to get these communities more support. And I want to thank all the nonprofits, the faith groups, the community leaders, and other volunteers who will make sure that vulnerable immigrants have what they need to survive, whether it’s food, warm clothing, shelter, medical care right after their arrival.”
“These religious and civic groups represent . . .our nation’s generosity — the best of our country. . . . And they’re a powerful rebuke to the hostility and even the hate which many people face when they arrive here legally.”
“. . . . Our problems at the border didn’t arise overnight and they’re not going to be solved overnight. It’s a difficult problem.”
“It’s clear that immigration is a political issue that extreme Republicans are always going to run on. But now they have a choice: They can keep using immigration to try to score political points or they can help solve the problem. . . .and come together to fix the broken system.”
“Before Congress adjourned for the holidays, some Democrats and Republicans, a few of them, got together — both sides, in the Senate — and decided they were going to put together a comprehensive plan on immigration.”
“But the Republican leadership . . . rebuked it and rejected it out of hand . . . just like they rejected my plan two years ago, just like they rejected my recent request for an additional $3.5 billion to secure and manage the border with more holding facilities , better transportation, additional funding for 2,000 new asylum officers and personnel, 100 new immigration judges to more rapidly adjudicate for people when they come here, and . . . so much more.”
“I’ll sit down with anyone who, in good faith, wants to fix our broken immigration system. And it’s hard. . . . But if the most extreme Republicans continue to demagogue this issue and reject solutions, I’m left with only one choice: to act on my own, do as much as I can on my own to change the atmosphere.”
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[1] Department of Homeland Security Announces Important Proposed Rules To Improve Immigration Laws and Border Security, dwkcommentaries.com (Jan. 5, 2023)
[2] White House, Remarks by President Biden on Border Security and Enforcement (Jan. 5,2023).
