A U.S. Border Patrol agent keeps watch as immigrants enter a vehicle to be transported from a makeshift camp between border walls, between the U.S. and Mexico, on May 13, 2023 in San Diego, California.
As the US relaxed its Title 42 immigration policies and migrants adjusted to the new asylum procedures and legal avenues, tensions along the border between the US and Mexico subsided.
To curb the number of smugglers who charge migrants to cross the Southwest border, President Joe Biden's administration has implemented new laws. The impact of the rules is still being evaluated by both migrants and government authorities.
New Migration Laws
According to AP News, asylum seekers are now required to apply for it online or in the countries they transited through before entering the US. Families who are permitted in will be subject to curfews and GPS tracking; those who are not will be subject to expulsion and maybe criminal prosecution.
The US government's official app for registering visitors has been updated this week to include appointment slots for migrants entering the country through land borders.
The Biden administration's legal avenues include a program that allows up to 30,000 individuals a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter with a financial sponsor and an online application.
Approximately 100 facilities to handle applications from migrants seeking entry into the US, Spain, or Canada are emerging in countries like Guatemala and Colombia. If they have an appointment using the app, up to 1,000 people per day may enter through land borders with Mexico.
Many people in northern Mexico decided to wait for an appointment rather than cross the border illegally.
Yeremy Depablos, 21, a Venezuelan traveling with seven relatives, has been waiting in Ciudad Juárez for a month. "I hope it's a little better and that the appointments are streamlined a little more," he told AP News.
Meanwhile, on Friday, May 12, there were still hundreds of migrants, including many children, who gathered on the railroad tracks in Huehuetoca in southern Mexico to catch freight trains bound for the US.
Also Read: Mexico Lets Thousands of Migrants Travel to US Border, Gov't Data Shows
Criticisms From Opposing Politicians, Advocates
If implemented successfully, the system might significantly affect the migration pattern toward the southern border.
But Biden, who is running for reelection, faces stinging criticism from both migrant activists and Republicans. The former think he is giving up on more humanitarian approaches, while the latter argue he is too lenient on border security.
The new asylum limits are being challenged in court on two separate occasions.
Many migrants have been eager to follow the legal method offered by the federal government. Still, there are worries about deportation and probable criminal consequences for crossing the border illegally, according to Melissa López, executive director of Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services in El Paso.
As of March 2020, border officers might swiftly remove asylum applicants on the basis of limiting the spread of COVID-19, thanks to Title 42. However, now that the national emergency has been declared over, the bans are lifted.
Many were deterred from seeking asylum under Title 42, although there were no repercussions for removal from the country.
Also Read: Title 42: Texas Sends First Bus of Migrants to Philadelphia in Lieu of Influx
