The United States will widen its use of rapid deportations under Title 42 for immigrants who enter the nation illegally while simultaneously streamlining the asylum and parole application processes to help reduce illegal crossings at the Southwest border, President Joe Biden said during a Jan. 5 speech at the White House.
The carrot-and-stick approach to easing the pressure at the U.S.-Mexico border is necessary given the political gridlock that has stymied meaningful immigration reforms, Biden said.
“Until Congress passes and 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.”
“My administration is going to work to make things better at the border using the tools that we have available to us now.”
Those tools included the October expansion of the nation’s existing immigrant parole program to include Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. “Currently these four countries account for most of the people traveling into Mexico to cross the Southwest border to start a new life,” Biden said.
The parole program allows immigrants to live and work in the United States for two years if they have a lawful U.S. sponsor and pass rigorous background checks. Immigrants now can apply for the program through an online, app-based appointment portal to cut down on wait times and crowding at ports of entry.
“Do not just show up at the border. Stay where you are and apply legally from there. If you don’t apply through the legal process, you will not be eligible for this new parole program,” the president said. “This new process is orderly. It’s safe. And it’s humane. And it works.”
Action also is being taken to improve the asylum application process, he said. Those seeking safety in the U.S. may apply for an appointment at a port of entry through the same app used by parole applicants. The Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security are reassigning additional asylum officers and immigration judges to the border area to hear cases applied for through the app.
“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,” Biden said.
But those who continue to attempt border crossings, and are caught, will be returned to Mexico, which has agreed to accept up to 30,000 migrants monthly from the U.S. through Title 42, according to the president.
The Trump-era immigration policy first was employed during the COVID-19 pandemic using public health as a pretense for deporting mass numbers of immigrants and asylum seekers. The measure has faced numerous legal challenges but remains in place by order of the U.S. Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear arguments about the measure in February.
Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans now will be included in those deportations, Biden added.
“They (immigrants) can and they do try to reenter the United States again and again, which makes the problem at the border even worse,” Biden said. “In the meantime, my administration will continue to use that authority as the Supreme Court has required.”
Other measures to decrease pressure on the border include welcoming as many as 20,000 refugees from Caribbean and Latin American countries in 2023 and 2024, the White House said separately.
Biden said he has few other options to address border security in humane and safe ways. “Instead of a safe and orderly process at the border, we have a patchwork system that simply does not work as it should. We don’t have enough asylum officers or personnel to determine whether people qualify for asylum. There’s a standard you have to meet. We don’t have enough immigration judges to adjudicate the claims of immigrants.”
He also advised Americans to adopt realistic expectations about immigration.
“We should all recognize that as long as America is the land of freedom and opportunity, people are going to try to come here.”
“We should all recognize that as long as America is the land of freedom and opportunity, people are going to try to come here,” the president said. “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 that they come here in an orderly way under U.S. law.”
The president also blasted congressional Republicans for barring more systemic approaches to fixing immigration. That included a request for comprehensive reforms on his first day in office and a more recent request for $3.5 billion to secure the border and hire 2,000 new asylum officers and 100 additional immigration judges. Both were rejected.
“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.,” he said. “And the failure to pass and fund this comprehensive plan has increased the challenges we’re seeing at our southwest border.”
He also appealed to Congress to take up the issue of meaningful immigration reform.
“The actions we are announcing today will make things better but will not fix the border problem completely,” he said. “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.”
About the only bright spot in the struggle for improved immigration processes has been the role of private citizens and groups, Biden said.
“These religious and civic groups represent our nation’s generosity — they represent the best of our country.”
“I want to thank all the nonprofits, the faith groups, the community leaders and other volunteers who will make sure vulnerable immigrants have what they need to survive, whether its food, warm clothing, shelter and medical care right after their arrival. These religious and civic groups represent our nation’s generosity — they represent the best of our country. They really do. And they are a powerful rebuke to the hostility and even the hate which many people face when they arrive here legally.”
Some of those groups responded to the president’s comments.
Jennie Murray
Jennie Murray, president of the National Immigration Forum, praised Biden for taking a head-on approach to dealing with the immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Increasing the use of humanitarian parole will help contribute to a more orderly process at the border, as will expanded legal alternatives for those seeking humanitarian protection,” she said. “We also are glad to see more resources and personnel being put in place to improve border processing.”
But significant concerns remain, especially with the continued use of Title 42, Murray added. “People of limited means will continue to have difficulty accessing humanitarian parole, as has been the case for Venezuelans. We also hope the administration will consider increasing the cap on humanitarian parole visas if circumstances warrant it.”
World Relief lauded the expansion entry mechanisms for immigrants from the countries Biden identified, but said it also opposes any system that results in the denial of due process for those fleeing persecution.
Myal Greene
“We strongly denounce any policies imposed by any administration that prohibit, deter or limit individuals from seeking refuge in the U.S. as allowed by U.S. law,” said Myal Greene, president of World Relief. “Those fleeing their countries due to conflict, violence or fear not only have the right to seek safety and protection but to plead their case to determine if they qualify to stay in our country lawfully.”
The faith-based organization said it actively opposed the illegal, harmful and ineffective immigration policies of the Trump administration and pleaded with the president to keep his promise to uphold the dignity of migrants in the process of providing a secure border.
Jenny Yang
Jenny Yang, vice president for advocacy and policy at World Relief, acknowledged every immigrant who arrives at the border will not quality for asylum. But the nation’s moral and legal obligations to those fleeing persecution must be honored.
“We are encouraged by the expansion of legal avenues for those who have fled countries where people are enduring incredible hardship. However, such processes should not be paired with new restrictions on asylum for those with no other avenue for protection under current U.S. law but for reaching the U.S. border to seek asylum,” Yang said. “We urge President Biden to work with Congress to develop a pathway forward that both protects our nation’s borders and respects the dignity and value of all human life, especially those who are vulnerable.”
Biden concurred with such sentiments and described legal immigration as the morally and economically right thing to do. “The idea that (immigration reform) is beyond our capacity, I just don’t buy. We can do anything if we do it together.”
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