As we near the end of Title 42, Mexico has agreed to give America a break. Yes, you heard that right this Biden administration managed to successfully negotiate with a country without leading to more of a disaster. The landmark agreement, forged just a week before chaos is set to unfold on our borders.
In a major move that will have far-reaching implications for the United States’ immigration policy, the Mexican government has announced that it will continue to take in Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants who are rejected from the US border when Title 42 expires next week. The agreement comes just nine days before the end of the federal pandemic-era policy, which allows the US Border Patrol to expel migrants to Mexico without hearing their asylum claims.
The Mexican government’s decision to continue accepting migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela is a significant development that will have significant consequences for the US immigration system. The move comes as Title 42, a federal pandemic-era policy that allows the US Border Patrol to expel migrants to Mexico without hearing their asylum claims, is set to expire next week.
CBS reported on how El Paso is bracing for the expected surge.
The agreement between the US and Mexico means that Mexico will continue to take in 30,000 migrants a month from each of the four countries. In exchange, the US will continue to allow 30,000 migrants a month from the same countries through the humanitarian parole program. This program was created in January and requires migrants to apply online, have a sponsor in the US, and not cross into the country illegally.
However, many migrants have reported difficulties with the online application process and have still been admitted after turning themselves in at the border without meeting the requirements.
The Biden Administration has also agreed to allow up to 100,000 migrants from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador into the US through a newly-announced family reunification parole process.
The Mexican government’s decision to continue accepting migrants from these four countries will make it easier for the US to deport migrants who are not citizens of those countries. The US has had difficulty deporting many migrants to these countries due to troubled or non-existent diplomatic relations with them.
The pact forged with America’s southern neighbor would give the US a powerful tool to deter asylum-seekers from those countries from crossing the border illegally — with the threat that they would be returned south of the border.
When Title 42 ends, the US could see as many as 13,000 migrants cross the international boundary a day, according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott. It is unclear what will happen after 30,000 migrants have been sent back to Mexico in a month if more continue to cross over into the US.
Many asylum-seekers who had been waiting in Mexico for weeks or months have already started to trickle into the US, overwhelming border cities from San Diego, California on the West Coast to Brownsville, Texas — the most easterly point of the southern border with Mexico. This influx has prompted President Joe Biden to send 1,500 active-duty soldiers to the border to assist federal immigration agents.
The Mexican government’s announcement that it will continue to accept migrants rejected at the US border when Title 42 expires next week is a great win and any help we can get is much appreciated. However, we all know this could have been avoided.
Let’s continue this conversation, in the comments below.
