Washington. Title 42 is behind us. The first minute of this Friday there are no longer health reasons to expel refugee applicants, however, Title 8 has entered into force, a set of regulations that raises the obstacles for migrants who wish to remain in the United States.
“Our borders are not open,” US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters at a White House briefing yesterday, warning of harsher consequences for those who attempt to cross the US border illegally.
With the measure that went into effect today, migrant families caught illegally crossing the border between the two nations will generally be deported within 30 days if they do not pass an initial asylum assessment under the new standard, Mayorkas explained.
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been holding up to 28,000 migrants at its facilities in recent days, far more than its declared capacity and in what appeared to be a record.
This week, the number of registered people crossing illegally exceeded 10,000 per day.
“I cannot overestimate the pressure on our staff and our facilities,” Mayorkas said. “We could see very crowded Border Patrol facilities.”
Nearly 500 United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials will be temporarily assigned to assist with interviews, and the Pentagon will send an additional 1,500 soldiers to the existing 2,500 to temporarily support Border Patrol.
Until yesterday, thousands of migrants on the border of almost 3,200 km sought to surrender to United States immigration agents to request asylum in that country before Title 42 expired. At some points, some succeeded, but after days or hours were deported.
an impossible world
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called on the United States on Thursday to resolve its conflicts with Venezuela and Cuba to stop the accelerated arrival of migrants.
Washington “should seek arrangements in Venezuela, in Cuba, in all countries. How is it going to be able to maintain harmony, peace, tranquility if there are differences, if there is confrontation?” questioned the president. AMLO also said that his government collaborates with the United States “so that there is no chaos and much less violence on the border.”
